Family
by Avatar Amaya and Dragora Kyuri
Summary: With Ba Sing Se and its trials behind her, the time to face the Fire Lord approaches. Gathered around her are her friends, there through thick and thin, but with Zuko gone and her courage failing, she finds herself growing less confident. Can Amaya handle the losses to come, and the losses already past? Can she truly defeat the Fire Lord, or is it all downhill from here? ZukoOC
1. In Which Amaya Cannnot Just Sit Here

**Wow, we're on the last story of the series. This is amazing, I've never started a series before, nevermind finished one, and this is a trilogy. I'm pretty pleased with how it all came out, and I hope you are too. Keep in mind, even after this is over I'm still taking requests for scenes and oneshots you'd like to see featuring Amaya and her friends. **

**Now, on to Book 3: Family!**

* * *

Amaya woke and stared at the ceiling in front of her dimly. Rivets, she thought absently as she swung her legs over the side of the uncomfortably firm mattress. She stared at her feet and closed her eyes as the floor swayed nauseatingly. She took stock by touch. She could feel the bandages wrapped around her chest and torso. A pad covered her right shoulder. Her right wrist was bandaged, along with both her shins and the upper portion of her left arm.

Something in her mind clicked suddenly. Rivets. She opened her eyes and stared around at horror. The hangings, the sheets. The Fire nation symbol glared back at her from everything worth stamping.

"Oh no," Amaya groaned, clutching her head as she rose. She staggered across the room towards her staff, panting with pain and exhaustion as she picked it up and leaned on it. When she felt more secure she moved for the door. It took a moment for her fuzzy brain to remember how to open it, but soon she was staggering down the hall, her empty stomach pitching in sync with the floor under her.

"Hey!" said a voice suddenly and Amaya turned to look. Two guards were at the other end of an offshoot hallway, staring at her. "She's finally awake!" The same guard spoke again in his deep voice. He was a hulking man with rippling muscles.

Amaya didn't think, she just reacted, swinging her glider wildly and sending a weak blast at the two soldiers before staggering forwards faster. She crawled more than walked up the steps to the deck. Her foot caught on the top lip and she pitched forwards, her knees cracking painfully on the metal beneath her as she reached for her glider. She happened to glance up and froze, completely confused as she saw familiar lamp-like green eyes.

"Momo?" she said weakly.

"Twinkle Toes, that's gotta be you!" said a voice, and it sounded weirdly like Toph. Oh no, was Toph captured too?

"You're awake," said one of the soldiers standing behind Momo conversationally.

"Are you sure?" Amaya asked vaguely. "I feel like I'm dreaming."

"You're awake," Katara said. Slamming into her and hugging her tightly. "Finally. We were so worried!"

"Amaya!" said a soldier in full armor, coming forwards and hugging her. "Good to see you're back among the land of the living!"

"Sokka?" Amaya said, placing the voice but not the image. Her brain refused to compute and it seemed to shut down. She swayed dangerously, eyelids closing.

"Uh oh, somebody catch her' she's gonna-!" Amaya pitched forwards and Katara caught her, sitting her down slowly. "Do that," Toph finished. "I guess it was too much for her."

_Zuko stood at the rail of a boat. The vision flickered, and there was no sound, but Amaya saw Mai come over and start talking to Zuko. She draped her arms around him and Amaya stepped forwards jealously, intending to fling the arm away even though it would do no good. But Zuko did it for her, shrugging off the affectionate embrace. _

"_It's been a while," he said coldly, hands tightening on the rail until his knuckles were white. "I don't care for you like that anymore."_

_Amaya cocked her head in surprise. Zuko and Mai? Well, it made a bit more sense than the Prince of the Fire Nation and the Avatar, she'd admit. Still, Mai? _

_She placed a hand on Zuko's as Mai walked away and watched as Zuko reacted. They both knew she was there in spirit now._

"_Amaya," he said softly, then turned away and dropped her hand. "Don't come to me anymore."_

_Amaya recoiled as if burned. Perhaps she gave Zuko too much credit. Maybe he was still the same person._

"_I can't control it," she said weakly. "I won't let you know though."_

Amaya's eyes snapped open and she saw everyone crowding around her worriedly. "I'm on a Fire nation ship," she said. That was about as far as she'd made it on processing.

That vision hurt, it hurt more than she cared to say. Maybe Zuko never cared for her, and she had just imagined the looks she saw. Maybe he was really just his father's puppet after all. He seemed to have no interest in her now. Very well. He may not love her but she loved him. She'd respect his wishes, and stay away.

"Why is everyone dressed like this?" she asked as Sokka draped a blanket around her shoulders. She pulled it around her top tightly. Technically she was only wearing bandages. Everything was covered, but it was still embarrassing. "Why am I the only one who's out of the loop?"

"Calm down," Katara said as every left her to explain. "You shouldn't get too excited, you hurt yourself pretty bad."

"I know," Amaya said, touching her bandaged shoulder gently and wincing.

"Katara, Amaya, is everything alright?" asked a man.

"Everything's fine dad," Katara said tensely.

"I'm Hakoda, Sokka and Katara's father," Hakoda said, sticking out a hand.

"She knows," Katara said, knocking the hand away. "I just called you dad, didn't I?"

Amaya blinked. Okay, now she felt _really_ out of the loop. Hadn't Katara been anxious to see her dad when they go the intelligence report? She had clearly missed something big. Still, she was glad to meet him.

"Nice to officially meet you, Chief Hakoda," Amaya said, sticking out her hand. He grasped her forearm and she did the same.

"It's an honor to meet you too," Hakoda said.

"Great, you guys are introduced, so can you give us some time here?" Katara demanded irritably. Hakoda's face fell.

"Of course," he said formally, turning and walking away.

"Okay, what was that?" Amaya demanded. "Last time I saw you, you couldn't wait to see your dad. Are you mad at him or something?"

"No, why?" Katara asked, looking at Amaya quizzically. "What makes you say that?"

Amaya shrugged, wincing as her bandages pulled. She placed a hand on her side and bit her lip.

"Let's go upstairs," Katara said. "You need a healing session."

"Actually, I think I need about a month in a spa, but we'll start there," Amaya joked weakly as Katara pulled her to her feet and helped guide her. Katara sat her down in a spare room that seemed to be used for healing, judging by the bed and bowls of water. Slowly, and with much wincing and cursing on Amaya's part, they unwound her bandages. Amaya covered her breasts absently as Katara sat down behind her and pulled the water from the bowls. She felt it smooth over her skin. Even that was enough to make her have to smother a whimper of pain.

"Tell me where your pain in most intense," Katara said clinically.

"Higher."

Amaya decided that Katara would make a good doctor. Maybe she needed to talk to the crazy herbalist in the Earth Kingdom.

She was racked with pain as Katara moved up, scenes flashing before her eyes as she yelled. She was rising out of the crystal saferoom she had made for herself. Lightning flickered and she came back to herself.

"You're definitely in the right spot," Amaya said dimly.

"I can feel a lot of energy twisted up here," Katara said, pulling the water back. "Maybe I can just…"

Amaya screamed and arched, throwing back her head as pain as intense as when she was first struck shot through her. Beneath her closed eyelids she saw herself, charred and still, sprawled across Appa's back as rain fell around them. Her eyes flashed open and Amaya understood.

"I didn't just get injured," she whispered. "It was more than that. I was gone. What did you do?" she asked, turning to look at Katara in awe.

"I don't really know what I did," Katara admitted with a shrug. "I just used the water from the Spirit Oasis."

"I know what you did," Amaya said with a weak grin. "You brought me back. Thank you." She moved to hug Katara, but her back protested once more.

"Maybe you can hug me later," Katara said with a small smile. "For now, you need some rest."

"Okay," Amaya submitted, and laid down on the bed.

* * *

Zuko stared down at his people as they clapped and cheered for him. They wouldn't have done anything of the sort if they knew Amaya was alive. He knew, he was the only one that knew. He had felt her, that night on the ship, when Mai tried to pick up their relationship where they left off. He told her under no uncertain circumstances that he wasn't interested. His heart belonged elsewhere, with someone he could no longer see. He locked it away in a box and threw away the key.

But then he felt her and his resolve wavered. He could go to her, could just leave and go to her… but now. He could do more good for her cause in the Fire Nation, and she would be safer. She didn't need the trouble and division he would bring to her friends. It was too painful to know she was there, know she still cared, so he made a clear break of it and told her not to see him anymore. He had felt her pain then, heard her inhale sharply.

It had to be done. His life was no longer his own here in the Fire Nation. He was just doing what had to be done.

* * *

"We had to get you to safety," Sokka explained as they all gathered around the map spread on the deck of the ship. "We got you to Chameleon Bay to the other Water Tribe ships. The Earth King decided he wanted to travel the world in disguise. Well, with Bosco. Pretty soon though the Fire Nation ships started coming. Instead of fighting, we captured one in the night and used it as our disguise. We've been heading west since then. We passed through Serpent's Pass not two days ago. None of the Fire Nation ships we've seen have bothered us."

"We've been working on a modified version of the invasion plan," Hakoda continued as Sokka finished. Amaya tugged her blanket tighter around her shoulders. Everything about her seemed _more_ these days. Colder, hungrier, more tired.

"Sokka's invasion plan," Katara hissed as she ate.

"Yes," Hakoda said, his face falling slightly at his daughters tone. Amaya looked between the two suspiciously. No matter what Katara said, something was up. "Without the Earth King's army we don't have the troops for a full scale invasion, but the Day of Black Sun will still leave the Fire Nation defenseless."

Sokka jumped in excitedly. Amaya grinned at the gleam in his eye he always got when planning. They may give him a hard time, but Sokka really was a genius. "We're planning a much smaller invasion, just a rag-tag team of our friends and allies from around the Earth Kingdom. We already ran into pipsqueak and the Duke," he said, gesturing to the two 'soldiers' Amaya had attacked on her great 'escape.'

"Hey," the Duke waved.

"Any word on Jet?" Amaya asked softly. Sokka went quiet for a moment and Katara looked away, frowning.

"No," Sokka said somberly. "Lake Laogai was the last location we've got for him." Amaya nodded. "It's not that grim though!" Sokka said encouragingly. "We have a secret weapon!"

"We do?" Amaya blinked. She had seen nothing on this ship so far that she classified as 'secret.' Then again, she'd only managed the short trips between her room, the healing room, and the deck so far. Her legs were still weak and shaky form so long in bed.

"You!" Sokka said, pointing to her happily. "The whole world thinks you're dead?"

"Wait, what?" Amaya asked, completely confused. "They think I'm… Why?"

"Azula announced that she killed you down in the catacombs," Katara explained.

"It means the Fire Nation won't be hunting us, _and_ they won't expect you on the Day of Black Sun," Sokka said.

A horn blared, catching everyone's attention. A Fire Nation ship was coming towards them, chugging swiftly across the water and belching coal smoke into the air. Immediately the ship turned into a hive of activity. Appa and Momo were covered by a tarp, courtesy of Pipsqueak and the Duke.

"What's going on?" Amaya said, at a loss. "Why is no one getting ready to… Ah, Fire Nation ship. Right."

"Come on," Katara said, helping Amaya up and pulling her down the stairs belowdecks. The two, along with Toph, perched on the upper stairs and watched over the rim of the deck. The other ship pulled alongside them and a gangplank lowered. The ship's captain and two soldiers crossed, confronting Bato. Amaya couldn't hear what was being said very well, but the enemy commander seemed a bit annoyed. However, they exchanged a few words and the trio left, crossing the gangplank calmly.

But then Toph jumped up. "They know!" she shouted, and slammed her hands onto the deck. The gangplank jerked violently, disengaging from the locks holding it in place, before falling into the water with its three passengers. Katara ran to the edge of the ship and raised her arms. A wall of water built up between the two ships. Katara whirled suddenly and shoved the other ship away. Immediately they began making their escape, running across the waves as fast as the ship would go.

There was a brief lull while the ship picked up its lost commander, and then the fireballs started, glancing off the sides of their hulls. Sokka rushed Amaya inside, the two of them pressing against the wall on either side of the door.

"Load the Toph!" came a cry from the deck and Amaya had to smother giggles. Ah, she loved her friends.

Pipsqueak supplied Toph with a boulder that she shaped into two discs. One went spinning across the open water between the two vessels and took out the first catapult, the other pulverizing a fireball in midair. Amaya moved to go out and help, but Sokka stopped her.

"You're still weak," he reminded her and Amaya leaned back against the wall, laying her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. She saw a brief flash, barely a glimpse. Zuko sitting by a pond, throwing bread to some turtle ducks.

* * *

Zuko's eyes widened. It was barely there, just a flash, but for a moment he had felt her. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Would he always have to deal with reminders of her? Hadn't he done the right thing in leaving despite his feeling to protect her? It was like his own personal hell.

* * *

Amaya's eyes snapped open as Katara raised a fog around them, covering them. Unfortunately, that now meant they couldn't see where the fireballs were coming from, and the next one managed to connect with the deck.

"That's it," Amaya hissed. "I can't just sit here and cower!"

"Amaya no!" Sokka said, catching her hand as she ran across the deck. "You're hurt, you can barely get around, and you have to stay a secret! Just let us take care of this!"

Amaya growled. This sitting here and waiting, it wasn't her style. She wasn't one to sit around when there was action, she was always in the middle, either urging it on or calming it down depending on her situation. But now she had to remain behind the curtain, listening to orders being given and just waiting.

"Fine," she snapped, snatching her hand away and walking back inside. She would apologize to Sokka for being short with him later, for now she was going to be angry. She sat down with her glider across her lap, closed her eyes, and covered her ears. Imagining what was going on was no good. Her imagination would without a doubt make it ten times worse. Not being in the thick of it meant her mind could run wild. She didn't know how much longer she would be able to do this. She had to get back on her feet soon. Had to.

* * *

"Come on Amaya," Sokka said as he and the others entered her room. "You've been laying in here staring at the ceiling for hours. We're going into town to get some dinner."

Amaya sat up, placing a hand on her stomach. It was rumbling and twisting uncomfortably. Then again, it didn't seem to do anything but these days, no matter how much she ate. The deadline was close, she could feel it, nipping at their heels, and she was still down. Her body rebelled at inactivity, and it was driving her crazy.

"Dinner would be good," she said. At least she would be able to get out and do something, even if it wasn't productive.

"Great!" Sokka said cheerfully. He held out a scrap of red fabric. "Just tie this around your arrow and we'll…"

"Get out," Amaya said sharply, lying down and turning her back to them. "Just go."

"Guys, go," Katara said softly, touching Toph and Sokka's shoulders gently. They obeyed, shutting the door behind them as they went.

"I think I know why being a secret bothers you so much," Katara said, sitting down on the edge of Amaya's bed.

"Oh really?" Amaya scoffed. "Why?"

"Because you don't want people to think you failed."

Darn her. Katara knew her a lot better than she had thought.

"Congratulations, give the girl a prize," Amaya sneered as she rolled away and stood up, staring at the wall. "It's not just thinking I failed Katara, I did fail. I was in Ba Sing Se, wasn't I? And what happened? The Fire Nation came in and I almost died." I think I _did_ die.

"Calm down," Katara sad soothingly. "We still have the invasion plan."

"I hate the invasion plan!" Amaya roared, reaching up and seizing the tapestry over her bed, yanking firmly and reveling in the sound of tearing fabric. She threw the fabric to the side carelessly. "We knew what was going to happen, didn't we? We were going to march into the capital in a blaze of glory, I would defeat the Fire Lord, and then we'd all go skipping through the tulips, la la la _la_." She snorted derisively. "Well guess what? I can't even handle Azula in the Avatar State, how the _hell_ am I supposed to take down the Fire Lord?" She whirled on Katara furiously. "Hmm? How? Answer me that! And if we go in now and I fail like I did in Ba Sing Se, it just means that the rest of you are captured or you _die._" She turned away, facing the corner again. "This whole thing is a suicide mission. I see that now."

"Quit being stupid!" Katara snapped. Amaya turned to her in surprise, raising an eyebrow. Katara rarely raised her voice at her. "So Azula beat you, so what? You beat her before, didn't you? The only reasons he won is because she snuck up on you! But you can fight that now, you know to watch your back! If you let one loss ruin your confidence, then you're a lot weaker than I thought you were!"

Amaya stepped back, surprised. Was that really what she was doing? Yes, in all honesty it was. But she couldn't seem to shake the feeling, no matter what. And it wasn't just the fight. It was Zuko too, she was questioning things she had taken for granted because of what had happened. He chose his family over her, sacrificing his own happiness. It was a comfort to know he cared for her, a huge comfort, but she still wanted more, and she hated herself for that. Zuko had signed his life over to his father and she was sitting in a corner sulking and throwing tantrums because she didn't get her way. She really was selfish.

Well, she could handle that. She'd handled it on top of the Air Temple and she could handle it now. She wasn't going to let herself get pulled down by a guy, she'd always told herself she was far to sensible for that, so she would prove herself right now.

"I'm sorry," Amaya said truthfully. "I've been… we'll, sort of a bitch since I woke up. I've just been feeling useless and pathetic. I need to get over myself and move on."

"So you'll come with us to dinner?" Katara asked hopefully.

"No," Amaya said, shaking her head and grinning ruefully. "Haven't quite gotten over myself yet, but this time it's pride more than anything."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked.

"I refuse to cover my arrows," Amaya said simply. "They're the mark of a master Airbender, and that's what I am above all else. I was one of the youngest masters in the last few centuries. I refuse to hide what I am."

"Okay," Katara nodded. "I can understand that. It would be like asking me to hide my mother's necklace." Amaya grinned and Katara rose, going to the door. "Do you need anything?"

"No," Amaya said, shaking her head. Katara nodded and left. "Nothing you can bring me."

Amaya sat down. She needed something to do, something with her hands. She looked down and saw the state of her clothes. A search of her room turned up her pack, so she began making new clothes, the same as her old outfit.

But the work was mindless, tedious. Working with her hands didn't calm her thoughts as she had hoped it was. Guilt reared up inside her. Losing meant her friends would probably die. Waiting meant more people would die. She couldn't _just sit here._

She knew it was wrong and fruitless and stupid, but she couldn't help herself. Amaya couldn't tolerate feeling useless, not with the deadline of the Day of Black Sun looming. So she scratched out a letter, picked up her glider, and snuck away.

* * *

She came to on the bank of an island. The night before was a blur. She remembered Roku and Yue. She remembered the storm, the blockade. She remembered vaguely losing her glider in the storm. She could feel hot stone under her back and in front of her was

"Momo?" she muttered, completely sure she was hallucinating until dark arms wrapped around her and lifted her.

"You're okay," Katara sobbed into her shoulder.

"You're here," Amaya said blankly. "But… the invasion?"

"We'll join up with the other on the Day of Black Sun," Sokka shrugged.

"Did you think coming to the Fire Nation would get you out of training?" Toph snorted. "Hey, what's….? Oh. Your glider."

Amaya stared at the mess of splintered wood and torn fabric.

"I'm so sorry," Katara said sadly.

"It's better like this," Amaya sighed, every inch of fight gone from her. "It could give away my identity, everyone knows I carry it." She stood, taking the wrecked glider from Toph and hopping up onto a rock above the flowing lava. Twirling it over her head once, she slammed the end of the glider into the rock and jumped down, turning her back on it.

She wasn't going to think of what happened before. Thinking of what happened made her stupidly leave the boat. She had no idea what she was thinking then, she was probably delirious when she left. She was only looking forwards to the future, to the day when she defeated the Fire Lord, and her little misfit family was safe.


	2. In Which Amaya Has a Nervous Disorder

"Hey, cave!" Amaya said, pointing. "That'd be a good place to stop for the day."

"Shh!" Sokka hissed sharply. "Keep it quiet!"

Appa dipped down and landed on the small stretch of volcanic rock between the mouth of the cave Amaya had seen and the water. Amaya disused the cloud she and Katara had whipped up to disguise them with a burst of air that irritated all the birds in the immediate vicinity.

"Great job on the cloud camo guys, but next time let's try and disguise ourselves as the kind of cloud that can keep its mouth shut," Sokka said as he pressed his back against a rock and peered around the edge suspiciously.

"Hmm, yeah, it'd be horrible if a bird heard us chatting up there and turned us in," Toph said sarcastically.

"Hey!" Sokka said sharply. "This is enemy territory. Those are enemy birds." A bird hopped onto his head and Sokka scowled while everyone laughed at him. He shooed the bird away and lead the way into the cave with a series of dramatic espionage moves.

"Well, this is how we'll be living up until the invasion!" he said cheerfully. "Living in cave after cave… after cave… after cave…"

"There's no need for us to become cave people," Katara said, shaking her head at her brother's drama. "What we need are new clothes!"

"Yes!" Amaya said cheerfully. She was sick of going around with nothing more than bandages and a scrap of cloth across her chest. "Fire Nation disguises would keep us just as safe as becoming cave-dwellers."

"Plus, they have real food out there. Who here wants to squat in the dirt and eat cave hopper, show of hands?" Toph slammed the wall with her fist, triggering a burst of the insects that Momo dove on eagerly.

"That's on for squatting, three for new clothes," Amaya grinned. "The clothes have it."

It didn't take them long to find a laundry. Clothes hung swinging in the breeze next to the waterfall where they were washed, the owner dozing in the doorway of the shop.

"I call the silk robe!" Katara yelled, running across and grabbing articles of clothing from the line randomly. Toph and Amaya did the same while Sokka sorted through shirts to find one in his size. They came away with a pretty decent selection, sorting through it and picking out what they wanted before separating to change.

Amaya came away with a shirt that came to just under her breasts, a halter top with a mandarin collar concealing her necklaces. She paired it with a floor-length skirt of the same deep red, slipping a pair of knee-length rosy pants on under it. She kept a shorter skirt to wear when things got violent. She grabbed a vest to cover up with when it got cold and pulled it on, buttoning it high. She slid on a pair of armored boots and stared down at herself as she stepped from behind the rocks she used for cover.

"I should wear shoes," Toph mused as she sat down beside Sokka. Both of them had already changed. "But I won't see as well. So…" She ripped off the sole of the shoe. "Finally, a stylish shoe for the blind Earthbender."

"Very nice," Amaya approved. Katara stepped out from behind the rocks.

"How do I look?"

Amaya gave her a thumbs up, then frowned. "Mother's necklace," she said.

"Oh," Katara said somberly, touching the carving. "I guess it's pretty obviously Water Tribe, huh?" She pulled it off and tucked it inside her blouse for safekeeping. "And your arrow."

Amaya sighed dejectedly as she took the piece of fabric Sokka proffered, tying it around her head.

"We can get new bling in town," Sokka suggested. "I mean, a warrior's wolf tail isn't really standard Fire Nation, so we'll need something to fix our hair with."

"Is it sad I'm not surprised he brought that up?" Amaya asked curiously as they walked into town.

It didn't take long to find a stall selling accessories. Sokka found something to pull his hair into a topknot, Toph grabbing a more Fire Nation appropriate headband. Katara grabbed a necklace to keep her neck from feeling bare. Amaya, who already had a Fire Nation-themed hair accessory from Roku, came away with two thick gold rings to go around her upper arm. They fit well with the bracers and gloves from Kyoshi Island she had taken to wearing again. With her glider gone, any fighting she did would be bending or hand to hand, and the guards would definitely give her an edge. Thankfully, her fans had made it, so she also had those to help her in a fight, tucked safely in a sash about her waist.

"Okay, food!" Sokka grinned as they arrived outside of a restaurant advertising various forms of meat on a stick.

"Oh," Amaya said dully. "Meat."

"Come on Amaya, everyone here eats meat!" Sokka said.

"Yeah, I'll go get some lettuce out of the garbage," Amaya said, wincing at the thought of meat. Sokka had convinced her to try it once. The all-night vomiting fest convinced her to leave it alone. "You guys go ahead."

Amaya stood outside, leaning against the wall as the others went inside to eat.

"You there, hold it! We've got you!"

"Say what?" Amaya blinked as she was suddenly faced with three annoyed-looking guards.

"It couldn't be plainer that you don't belong here," an older man sneered at her.

"Oh it probably could," she muttered under her breath.

"Here's a tip," one soldier said. "Next time you play hooky, leave the school vest at home."

"Huh?" Amaya said blankly. The soldiers just rolled their eyes and scoffed at her as they grabbed her, hauling her down the street and into an institutional-looking building. They threw open a set of doors and Amaya blinked at the honest-to-Agni classroom that was revealed, with a teacher and students at their desks and everything.

"What's this?" the teacher asked sharply. She was a hateful-looking woman with a tight bun and thin, scowling face. "A new mind ready for molding?"

"We'll go with that," Amaya said as she was thrown inside the classroom.

"Wait!" the teacher snapped as the soldiers turned to leave. She came forwards, circling Amaya, who hunched down in an effort to seem less conspicuous. "You're clearly not from the Fire Nation."

Oh crap.

"You must be from the colonies," the teacher sneered.

"Uh yeah!" Amaya said, pleased she had been handed a story. "The colonies in the Earth Kingdom." She watched from the corner of her eye with relief as the soldiers left.

"Your manners are deplorable!" the teacher snapped. "In the home country we bow to our elders, like so!" She demonstrated and Amaya bowed, copying her hand gesture precisely.

"Very well. Do you have a name, or shall we just call you mannerless colony slob?"

"Er, Kuzon," Amaya blurted without thinking. The teacher cocked an eyebrow.

"Kuzon is a boy's name. And take that headband off, we don't wear head coverings inside!"

"Tell that to my parent, they're the ones that wanted a boy, and… I have a scar," Amaya said softly, brushing off a skill she had honed back at the temple and BSing her way out of trouble. "Our village was attacked by rebels, and well…"

"Very well," the teacher said again. "Take a seat."

Amaya sat awkwardly and fidgeted. She was the first person out the door and into the courtyard as soon as they were released, gasping for air as she checked in Momo tucked safely inside her vest.

"Well, we made it buddy," she muttered. "And…" she beamed. "It was sort of fun!" Imagine, that could have been her life. At the moment, it didn't seem like such a bad alternative.

"Don't let the Headmaster catch you with that monkey."

"There's no monkey here!" Amaya snapped, whirling around to see a slightly younger girl standing there behind her grinning. "Oh er, I mean…"

"It's fine. Nice headband, by the way. I'm Anji," the girl said, sticking out her hand.

"Am- Kuzon," Amaya corrected swiftly, shaking the hand. "I'm Kuzon."

Something shoved roughly into her shoulder and Amaya looked to see a tall boy wrapping his arm around Anji's shoulders.

"Come on Anji," he said, sneering at her. "You don't have to babysit the _new kid._"

"Haven't had a babysitter since I nearly killed the last one," Amaya said sharply. "And you are?"

"Listen colony trash, I'll say this slow so you can understand. Anji's too good to hang around with you, so don't start clinging to her to get in good here."

"Alright, think I understand. Now listen here, mindless bullying idiot. I'm not going to scare that easy, so you can take your threats to someone who'll scamper away with their tail between their legs. You want to worry me, come back when you've stepped it up a bit," Amaya finished, shoving him sharply in the shoulder and then turning on her heel and striding away with her nose in the air. Bullies? Yeah, they hadn't bothered her much at the Air Temple. Mostly because they knew she could take them. In fact, it got to the point where any attempts at bullying amused more than frightened her.

Amaya went 'home' quickly, knowing her friends would be worried, and ducked into the cave, whistling cheerfully.

"Where were you?" Katara demanded when she came in. They had gotten a fire going and were sitting around it talking. "We were worried sick!"

"I got caught up at school," Amaya shrugged, pulling the headband off and letting her arrow breathe.

"At what?" Sokka shrieked, bolting upright.

"I may have been enrolled in a Fire Nation school," Amaya said innocently. "And I'm going back tomorrow." To get a slice of normalcy before I go to war.

"Enrolled in _what?_"

"School."

"Enrolled in _what?"_

"Sokka," Amaya groaned, sitting down across from them at the fire.

"Okay Amaya, I'm trying to be mature and not immediately shoot down your idea… but it sound _really terrible."_

"Yeah, we've got the new clothes, what do you need to go to _school_ for?" Toph snorted.

"Every minute I'm there I learn more about the Fire Nation," Amaya reasoned, reaching into the pocket of her skirt. She pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it. "See? I already have a detail geographical map of the Fire Nation. And I made this one myself," she added, showing a sloppily drawn copy of the map. Katara frowned at it.

"Why are there little Zs on that one part?"

"Those are mountains!"

"And why it there a tree in the middle of that island?"

"It's a volcano!" Amaya said defensively. "Okay, so art's not my strong suit, moving on!"

"It's impressive, I'll admit," Sokka allowed. "But I still think this is a _horrible _idea!"

Amaya sighed dispassionately, tipping her head forwards to hide a mischievous smile. "Too bad. I guess we'll never know about the _secret river_ that goes _all the way_ to the _Fire Lord's palace_. We were supposed to learn about it tomorrow, but…"

"I am a fan of secret rivers," Sokka mused cautiously. "Fine. A few more days, then we're gone!"

"Whoo!" Amaya cheered happily, jumping up and spinning herself in a tiny cyclone of air.

* * *

The teacher marched in a barked, "Recite the Fire Nation oath!"

Amaya stood with the rest of the class, trying to look like she actually had a clue as to what she was doing, and turned to face the gigantic picture of Fire Lord Ozai covering the back wall of the classroom. The students around her began talking, at first Amaya tried to keep up, but she hadn't a prayer of blending in so she winged it.

"Firebenders. Fire Lord… Oh screw it!" she exclaimed just as the other stopped talking. Her voice echoed in the silence. The class giggled at her faux pas. "Oh drat."

The teacher's pointer hit the desk, cracking loudly.

"Since it's obviously _hilarious_ to mock our National Oath, we will begin today with a pop quiz on our Great March of Civilization."

The class groaned as they took their seats. Amaya had no idea what a pop quiz was, but it sounded painful. She pulled the book of paper supplied and pulled it towards herself, ducking her head to try and make herself as inconspicuous as possible.

"Question one: What year did the great Fire Lord Sozin battle the Air Nation Army?"

Amaya's brain immediately responded with ? She raised her hand, completely confused.

"Kuzon?" the teacher asked. Amaya stood.

"With all due respect ma'am, huh?"she asked. "Is this a trick? The Air Nomads didn't have a formal military. They were all _monks_, they _hated_ violence. Sozin only beat them because he ambushed them."

The class gaped at her, the teacher spluttered. "Well- I don't know how you could know more than our national history book. Unless you were actually _there_ a hundred years ago."

Amaya beamed. "You got me. I'm the Avatar. Take me away." She held out her wrists. The class snickered and the teacher snorted.

"Perhaps if you spent less time dreaming up fantasies and more time studying, you'd know the answer. Now _sit!"_ This was accompanied by a _smack_ of the pointer. Amaya sank back into her seat and began writing down the true answers, free of Fire Nation propaganda. Well, why not? She'd be gone in a day or so, best give the teacher some truth.

* * *

Amaya was actually excited about music class. She adored music from all the nations, though a slight edge had to go to the Air Nomads of course. However, she was incredibly nervous when she was handed a sungi horn and sat in the back of some risers. The fat man with grey-streaked hair conducting to class raised his baton, and the playing began. Wincing visibly, Amaya took a deep breath and began to play, her feet dancing across the bleachers to keep her from focusing on how bad she was.

Suddenly she realized that her horrible sungi playing was the only noise in the class. Opening her eyes she looked around to see the entire class staring at her like she had just announced… well, that she was the Avatar. Again.

"Yeah, sorry," she apologized. "The sungi horn isn't exactly my forte."

"No child, the hullabaloo going on with your feet. Is that a nervous disorder?" the conductor asked. Amaya frowned.

"You mean dancing? I know, some people look like they a disorder, but…" She saw the blank looks she was getting. "You don't dance in the home country, do you?" she said glumly.

"Young people must have rigid discipline and order. _Dancing_ is not conducive to an educational atmosphere."

"Don't you guys express yourselves?" Amaya blinked.

"I know we are sometimes so moved by our pride in our great nation that we simply can't control ourselves," the conductor said, and Amaya looked at him askance. Was he serious? "Very well. If you can't control yourself, you may march in place quietly the next time you feel the need."

"Okay," Amaya said glumly. She played a few notes with the rest of the band, but mostly she just sat there wondering if the Fire Nation even knew what fun was.

* * *

All eyes were on her at the end of school, and dancing was the subject of the gossip. Amaya hurried off though the courtyard, anxious to get back to the cave. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. Bad teachers she could handle, she'd dealt with Kyro for years. Bullies, okay, everywhere had them. Rampant propaganda was expected. But being in the spotlight? Yeah, that had to go.

Amaya blinked and recoiled as a figure stepped in front of her from the crowd.

"Anji," Amaya said blankly, remembering the girl from the day before.

"Hey Kuzon," she said cheerfully. "I thought that whole dancing thing you did in class today was pretty cool."

Amaya beamed. "Thanks. I could teach you, you know, I- eep!" Amaya jumped forwards and fire tickled at her back, making mischief with her braid. She turned to see the big bully from yesterday.

"No one talks to me like that!" he snapped. "And I told you to keep your colony trash self away from my Anji. I don't care if you're a girl, I'm calling you out!"

Whatever he was expecting, be it crying or pleading, Amaya bursting out laughing in his face was definitely not it.

"Oh spare me," she giggled. "If you last five minutes against me I'll personally draw grafitti on the picture of Fire Lord Ozai in our classroom." The kids around them gasped at her audacity and the boy grinned.

_It takes twice as much energy to swing and miss as it does to swing and hit. _

Amaya recalled Gyatso's words as the boy swung. She slipped under his blows, dancing around him and taunting him, tweaking his nose once as she dodged his attacks. She skipped behind his back and pressed herself against him in a classic Airbending move, grinning as he tried frantically to get to her. Finally he had the sense to pull away and turn on her, so she slipped between his widely-placed legs, too widely-placed actually. It was easy to kick the back of his knee as she went. He dropped to the ground, then shot up and lunged at her. Amaya ducked under his wild swing, laughing, and hooked her foot around his ankle, dropping him again. She stood over him and smiled.

"And you thought I was…?"

"Picking fights on your second day of school?"

"Oh drat."

"We'll need to have a conference with your parents," the headmaster said as he picked the boy up. Amaya gaped. "Bring them to my office after school. Don't be late."

"I shall try and contain excitement," Amaya said, sweeping a grand bow. The headmaster looked down at her.

"Your attitude needs some serious adjustment."

"So does your face," she muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing!" Amaya sing-songed. "I'll go right and get my parents sir!"

* * *

"It's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs…"

"Fire," Sokka said, twiddling with his new mustache and beard. "Wang Fire. This is my wife, Sa Fire."

"Sapphire Fire, nice to meet you," Katara smiled, patting her 'pregnant' belly.

"Well then, Mr. and Mrs…. Fire. Your daughter Kuzon has only been here two days and already she' argued with her history teacher, disrupted music class, and roughed up my star pupil. And she continues to forget parts of her uniform!"

"My, that doesn't sound like our Kuzon," Katara said, placing her hands on Amaya's shoulders in a motherly gesture. Amaya winced as the girl's strong fingers dug into her.

"That's what any mother would say ma'am," the headmaster said sympathetically. "Nonetheless, if she acts up one more times it's off to reform school with her. By which I mean the coal mines."

"You have nothing to worry about Mr. Headmaster sir, I'll straighten this girl out something fierce!" Sokka said in a loud, obnoxious voice. He turned a roared in her face. "Young lady, when we get home you're going to get the punishment of a lifetime!"

"That's what I like to hear," the headmaster said contentedly, leaning back in his chair. The trio rose and left the room, Sokka swaggering along behind in a ridiculous 'adult' walk.

Amaya swayed suddenly and collapsed against the wall as her vision flickered.

_Zuko stood on the balcony of the Fire Nation palace, staring out at the sunset. Azula slipped frm the shadows and moved to his side._

"_You've been avoiding Mai."_

"_I'm not interested in her anymore."_

"_Funny, you're not interested in her, yet you're interested in uncle."_

"_Who told you?"_

"_You did, just now. Believe it or not I'm trying to protect you. If people find out you're visiting him, you could be suspected of plotting with him."_

_Amaya couldn't contain herself. Being faced with Zuko time after time when she knew well and good that she would probably never see him again, and if she did, they would be on opposite sides… It was like her own personal brand of hell dredged up by the spirits. Whatever she had done to deserve it, she was sorry. _

_And this time, no matter what he wanted, she had to step in. Her hand brushed across his cheek, just under his scar._

"_Azula always lies," she whispered in his ear. "Azula always lies."_

"Is she alright?" the headmaster asked as Amaya came back to herself. Amaya found that she was now stretched out in Sokka's strong arms.

"She's fine sir, just gets these fainting spells sometimes, poor thing," Katara said as they left hurriedly.

"I'm good now," Amaya muttered as the door shut behind them. Sokka put her down, but let her lean against him as they made their way back to the cave quickly.

"No more school for you young lady!" Sokka screamed at her as she sat down. Amaya flinched and looked up at the sudden noise. She stood, sweeping to Appa's side and petting his nose.

"I don't want to stop going," she admitted. "It's a chance to be normal for a few days before I 'go into battle.' You don't know what it's like to want that Sokka, you're always normal." Toph snorted. "These kids are the future of the Fire Nation. What better way to help this place than starting with them?"

"Okay, valid point," Sokka conceded. "But what can you do for a country of depraved little fire monsters."

"Well." Amaya mused. "A little taste of freedom wouldn't be amiss." She grinned. "A dance party comes to mind."

"Go to your room!"

Amaya yanked off Sokka's beard. "Sorry _daddy,_" she teased. "I don't take orders from Fire Nation."

It took Amaya no end of convincing, but soon they were setting up for a dance party.

"I can't believe I agreed to a dance party," Sokka sighed. "It seems so… silly."

"Then don't think of it as a dance party," Amaya reasoned. "It's a cultural exchange celebrating the art of fancy footwork."

"Everybody stop bending!" Toph called suddenly. "They're coming."

"Come on buddy," Amaya said, shooing Appa out of the cave. "You should wait out back." Appa groaned. "Oh, I know. You've got the fanciest feet here. And six of them!"

The band filed in, setting up their instruments on the daises Toph had raised. When they were ready, students began trickling in. They bunched awkwardly along the walls, seemingly at a loss.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Flameos!" Amaya beamed, stepping out in front of the students. Her feet were already tapping and she was shimmying a bit. "Yeah, if this doesn't get them moving I don't know what will."

"Now what do we do?" Amaya turned to see that not one person had started moving yet. They still just stood there, looking lost and confused.

"Well, you dance!" she grinned.

"I don't think my parents want me dancing in caves." Probably true.

"What if someone finds out?" I've got a problem.

"Okay, listen up," she sighed. "Dancing is a form of self-expression that no one can ever take away from you. It's not something you think about, it's something you do."

"Maybe it was different in the colonies Kuzon, but we don't do that here!"

Amaya snorted. "Of course you do, you have for generations. I just happen to know several classic Fire Nation dance moves." She let her arms flow behind her as she danced. "A hundred years ago this was the Pheonix Flight." She switched it up. "And this was the Camelephant Strut." That was one of Bumi's favorites. Of course, in his case, it was more the Pig Chicken Having a Seizure. Dancing King Bumi was not.

"This is how they do it in the ballrooms of Ba Sing Se," Amaya coached, swaying and waving her arms. She saw Anji standing awkwardly on the side and grabbed her, pulling her in. She positioned her arms properly and then stood in front of her, demonstrating. Anji grinned and joined in. Soon more people were nervously trying to dance.

"That's good, go with that!" Amaya beamed. "Now, everybody freestyle!"

She walked among the dancers, looking around. Some were average, some were startlingly good, others were…

"Oh my god it's Bumi all over."

"Hey Kuzon?"

Amaya turned to see a pair of girls standing there nervously.

"What's up?" she asked cheerfully, still swaying as she talked.

"Well, I really want to dance with Chizo," one girl said, blushing.

"And I want to dance with his twin Shizo."

"But we can't seem to get their attention!" the two chorused.

"Can you help us out?" one asked. Amaya grinned.

"Oh yes I can," she smiled. "Come on, just watch me."

Amaya stepped out into a clear place on the dance floor and waited for a new song. The new one was perfect, with lots of drums. She particularly enjoyed some of the more traditional Fire Nation dances, although a lot of them were a bit risqué. Still, very few of them required particularly intense training to get the hang of.

She started by shimmying her hips, then added her chest, and then she began dancing in earnest, dropping to the ground on her knees and rolling her torso fully around, seizing the ends of her skirt. This dance was more flirty than anything, involving lots of skirt flips. Amaya rose to her feet, still wiggling her chest, and raised the edges of her skirt until the fabric spread like wings, then she began to spin. Her skirt flared around her in intricate patterns as she spun and waved her arms. She paused, shaking her hips, to weave the end of the skirt into a complicated pattern, before dropping it entirely and just spinning. Her skirt fanned out widely and exposed her bare legs up to the middle of her thigh. Of course, most of the girls here were still wearing their uniforms, so they couldn't do that.

Amaya shifted gears suddenly, grabbing Sokka and hauling him into the ring. She would have loved to do some of the dances based on bending, but they required a partner who could bend, and she didn't have one of those. Still, she had a Sokka.

"What are you doing, young lady?" he demanded in his adult voice.

"Well, in all honesty, I'm about to dance like a slut, thanks for asking," she grinned, before looping a leg around his waist and bending back until one elegantly draped hand brushed the ground. She snapped back up and then spun Sokka out of the ring. He bumped into a girl who looked all too pleased to catch his eye.

Amaya turned and began shimmying, rolling her body and waving her hands in precise, delicate motions. She froze suddenly, hands out to her side and frozen in a delicate position, hips moving independently from the rest of her body.

* * *

_Zuko stared in awe as Amaya danced in the cave, surrounded by school children. While the scene was strange, it was definitely worth watching. While fighting, her motions had been graceful and confident enough to be attractive. But this dance she was doing was different, intentionally alluring and drawing attention to every asset she possessed. He felt something leap up inside him and roar angrily when she draped herself off the Water Tribe boy and quickly squashed it. He had surrendered any and all claim to her, he shouldn't be jealous. _

_She froze suddenly and Zuko blinked, gaping. He didn't know it was possible to do that with your hips… Suddenly her head snapped up and she stared directly at him._

Zuko bolted upright, panting heavily. What was that? He was visiting her now? Was that even possible? One thing was for sure, his personal hell had just gotten a whole lot worse. The sad part was, these days he only felt alive when he felt her. Other times it was just a careful act, one he couldn't let falter or all would be lost. He wasn't him anymore, he was the Prince Zuko everyone expected him to be.

It was becoming increasingly hard to keep from just leaving and going to her side. But would she still welcome him? Would her friends? Would he even be able to get away. He had so many questions and so few answers.

"What do I do?"

* * *

Amaya knew he had been there, she had felt his presence just as keenly as when her spirit flew to him. He was visiting her? That was a new twist, and not altogether a welcome one. She knew he didn't want to see her; that must be awful for him. Was she perhaps drawing him there? That was it then, she had to try and keep him out of her thoughts. But as soon as you resolve not to think of something, it becomes the only thing you can think of.

Of course, party-crashing Fire Nation guards provide lovely distractions.

Their little quartet hustled out the back of the cave, and mounted Appa, Momo soaring beside them as they flew off into the night.

**So, just to help get an idea of Amaya's dace there at the end, it's sort of a blend of tango, bellydancing, and gypsy dances. Yeah, I'm weird. This is one of my favorite episodes though, I absolutely love Aang and katara's dance.  
**


	3. In Which Roku Gets Nostalgic

**I did skip The Painted Lady and Sokka's Master. Why? They focus mainly on Katara and Sokka, not Amaya, so there's nothing for me to really work with there. It's a shame, because those are some of my favorite episodes (actually I love most of Book 3) but I can only do so much with what I'm given. I'm trying to get to the end because it's bouncing around in my head like crazy, but there's so much between now and then! I can't wait to hook Zuko up with the rest of the gang, that's when things start getting interesting. Hints: Firebending training and Sokka v Zuko fights! Who's excited?**

* * *

Amaya lounged in the water happily, floating on a board she had dragged in. her hands trailing the water, occasionally forcing her away from edges of the little pond where they were spending the day.

The last few days had been pretty interesting, and for their standards, almost good. Okay, so there was that one incident at the fishing village with the Fire Nation soldiers, and if she never saw another piece of kelp she'd be alright. But still.

Katara's actions at that village had been nothing short of heroic. She destroyed the factory polluting their water, healed the sick, scared away the Fire Nation soldiers who came looking, and then helped them clean up the water. And she'd done it all incognito. Amaya herself hadn't even known until towards the end. Who knew Katara could be that sneaky?

And Sokka. He'd really come into himself the past few days. Now he had a new perspective, that of a swordsman, and it was all for the better. When they stopped he frequently got out the 'space sword' he had forged himself and practiced and Amaya had to admit, the kid was good. He was already a formidable enemy with his boomerang and cudgel, and his brain was an asset that was invaluable, but now he really was a force to be reckoned with.

Amaya could see how they had all changed. She herself was no longer quite so flippant as she had been. She didn't beg to stop for silly little side-trips anymore. Katara had come into her role as a sort of mother to them all. It was she who made sure they were all fed and that they were all safe, and she did it well. Toph… well, she was still Toph, but changing Toph was about as likely as the Fire Lord surrendering to Momo. Sokka was losing some of the child's insecurity he had had up until now. He was more confident, he moved with purpose now.

It was with nostalgia that she looked back on their trip to Kyoshi Island, to their brush with pirates, to Bumi's tests in Omashu. She longed for those days when she didn't have a deadline, when her fight with the Fire Lord was far away, and everything contained a certain amount of innocence, as if they weren't plotting to overthrow a ruler. Now that fight loomed closer and ever closer, and the obstacles springing up in their path were far more substantial than a crazy king or a sea monster.

It was on days like this, when they weren't fighting for their lives and they weren't frantically making for the invasion, that she still felt like they were back in that time, when everything was so much easier and the only thing she had t worry about was getting to the North Pole without Zuko catching her.

Zuko. And she was thinking about him again. It seemed as soon as she had resolved not to he wormed his way into her every thought. Determinedly, she forced her plank away from a rock, visualizing shoving Zuko from her mind, and returned her thoughts firmly to the day, enjoying lounging in the water.

"Amaya, don't you think you should cover up!"

But of course Toph wasn't having that.

"What, I've got everything covered!" Amaya called back.

"I mean your tattoos. Someone could see!"

Of course. Her tattoos. They were an inconvenience these days when they had once been a status symbol, the sign of a master.

"We're surrounded by walls on all four sides," Katara reminded her. "No one's going to see."

Amaya looked up as she felt her plank get tugged by a current suddenly. Turning, she saw water rushing into a cave. Grinning, she slipped off the plank and let herself be pulled along into total darkness, twisting and turning as the water roared around her.

"Whoo! Yeah!" she grinned as Momo clung to her braid desperately, gliding along behind her like some sort of terrified kite. They burst from the end of the tunnel and fell into the water several dozen yards below. Amaya grinned as she surfaced, a shaking Momo clamped to her head like a helmet. She slowly loosened his arms.

"Okay boy, we won't go again," she smiled, jumping out of the water and over the ridge, back to the pool and splashing in from the wall above. The resulting wave washed over Toph and pushed her back into the wall.

"Twinkle Toes!" she growled warningly as she spit out water.

"Sorry!" Amaya apologized, and took a deep breath before ducking under water, safe from Toph's wrath.

The day was a wonderful rest, after Toph pummeled Amaya down to the bottom of the pond once or twice in revenge. They had a dinner of fish Sokka caught and collapsed into bed tiredly.

"Guys! You're all going to think I'm crazy, but it feels like a metal man is coming!"

Okay, so not what Amaya had expected to wake up to. Amaya winced as light stung her eyes. She shielded her face and groaned, sitting up and looking. A man stood on the ridge above them, moonlight reflecting off a metal hand in place of his real one. Amaya watched. He inhaled. She reacted. She leapt and grabbed Toph, shoving her out of the way.

A concussive blast ripped through the night, igniting and connecting with the ground where they used to be sleeping. Toph leapt up and raised her arms, sending a wall of rocks up the ridge towards the man. He inhaled and destroyed it with another concussive blast, sending the rocks back towards them. Amaya jumped forwards, shoving them back with a blast of air. Katara took up the offensive and raised a wave from the pond, flinging it at the man. He fired again–where was he firing from?-and completely destroyed her wave. Of course, the one advantage to this was the fact that now, all that water was now mist, shielding them from the assassin's vision as they took cover behind a bunch of rocks.

"This is crazy!" Sokka yelled as another blast connected with the ground. "How do we beat someone who blows stuff up with his mind?"

"We don't!" Amaya shouted. "We run like wolfbats from fire and pray he doesn't follow. You guys get on Appa and go! I'll run a distraction! Go!"

They all broke cover, the others going for Appa while Amaya shot up to the top of the ridge. She hopped gracefully away from his next attack and slid down the other side of the incline and stared, smiling. A forest of rock pillars, perfect. Running, she slipped behind one, panting, and peered around the side. Metallic footsteps could be heard and Amaya watched as the man paused, looking around intently. He suddenly whirled and attacked her pillar. Amaya moved fast and got behind another pillar, sheering it off near the base and hurling it at him. He blew it up with surprisingly quick reflexes and Amaya took off, running around pillars. He fired again and she turned, timing it perfectly and using both the force of the explosion and her own wind to fling herself farther away. She rotated quickly in the air, pushing her fists out above her head, and slammed into and through a pillar, shattering it completely. She pulled the rocks around herself, covering her completely, and froze, eyes closed. The heard the footsteps of Toph's 'metal man' coming towards her. They paused and her eyes snapped open. He was right in front of her. She jumped, still encased in rock, and repelled off of his forehead, again using the force of the attack that followed to get higher. She rose into the air and then let herself fall, rocks coming free. She hit Appa's saddle roughly and they flew off into the night.

"I'm okay," Maya said as Katara moved to her side. She sat up, rubbing her head.

"Well that was random," Toph said cheerfully.

"No, I don't think so," Katara reasoned. "I get the feeling he knows who we are."

"Whatever," Sokka groaned. "Let's just get far away and find a place to crash."

"And pray this doesn't turn into a repeat of Azula's all-night hunt," Amaya pleaded. Groans greeted this statement as they all remembered.

They flew through the night until the moon was starting to go back down, before they stopped on a flat lava floe, frozen probably centuries ago. They only managed to get a fire going before they all passed out.

_Amaya sat on the ground, fire burning all around her. The fire in front of her parted and a figure with scarlet robes stepped through. The fire closed behind him and Amaya ran to him, hugging him tightly. _

"_Roku!" she said happily as he placed a fatherly hand on her back._

"_Amaya," he said. "It is time you learned of my history with Fire Lord Sozin."_

"_What do you mean?" Amaya asked, pulling back and looking at him. _

"_To understand how to end this war, you must first understand how it began," Roku explained. "Meet me on my home island on the day of the summer solstice." He pulled away, receding back through the flames. "Do not be late."_

"_Okay Roku," Amaya said._

"Guess who got a midnight vision from Roku?" Amaya groaned as she slumped to the fire the next morning. It was already after noon. They were getting a late start thanks to their late night.

"What does he want us to do now?" Sokka asked.

"He wants to tell me about Fire Lord Sozin," Amaya said as she gratefully took a few berries from a pile by the fire. "We're supposed to be on his home island the day of the summer solstice."

"You know, it'd be nicer if he'd just say 'go here tomorrow and we'll have a talk,'" Sokka whined. "Home island, summer solstice. You know, why can't he just apart his spirity wisdom in these dream visit things he does?"

"It takes a lot of energy for a spirit to invade a dream," Amaya reminded him. "Even if he is technically me, he can't stay long."

"Ready to whip up some cloud camo?" Katara asked.

"Ready if you are," Amaya grinned. They loaded up Appa and go aboard, Katara and Amaya generating their usual cloud around Appa as they soared out over the water.

"So where is this island anyway?" Sokka asked. "I don't suppose Roku gave you directions."

"No," Amaya admitted. "But I got a pretty good look at it. Two big volcanoes, and sort of circular, with a bay on one side."

'That's surprisingly helpful for a spirit," Sokka said in surprise as he unrolled their map, scanning it. "Here, this looks like it! We started from here, so we need to head east a little bit."

"Got that buddy? "Amaya asked. "East!"

Appa groaned and angled himself slightly, correcting their course. They all kept their eyes peeled for the island Amaya had described. Of course, it as Amaya herself, up on Appa's head with the best vantage point, who spotted it first.

"There it is!" she cried, and Appa went down. They landed on an island completely covered in ash and got off, little puffs of pyroclastic material rising around their feet as they landed.

"But… there's nothing here," Katara said in confusion. Toph jumped down beside her and paused, looking vaguely ill.

"Actually, yes there is. A village, hundreds and hundreds of houses, completely buried in ash. And… there's people down there too."

"Oh," Katara said solemnly.

"Yeah," Toph nodded. "The volcano erupted, and I guess not everyone got away."

"Including Roku," Amaya sighed as she moved onto a ridge sticking out over the water. She stomped and raised a small rock to sit on, dropping and folding her long legs into a lotus position. She sat down just as the sun brushed the sea. She saw her tattoos start to glow before she was enveloped in another world.

_She stood on a stone plateau, the sky misty orange around her. The base of her perch was concealed by mist that had taken on the color of the sky. She was reminded of the scene Pathik had shown her when opening the fire chakra._

_A red dragon swooped low and came to a stop in front of the ground, hovering there._

_"Fang," she greeted, stroking his wing on a downbeat. As the wing lowered, Roku was revealed, sitting on the dragon's back and smiling at her. He extended a hand._

_"Come, Amaya."_

_She took the hand eagerly and he pulled her onto Fang's back. She braced her hands on the old man's back as Fang began to fly._

_"Where are we going?" she asked interestedly._

_"To visit my past, or rather, our past," he smiled. Fang vanished from under them and the two of them dropped into a scene from the past, now in their ghostly blue spirit forms. Amaya watched as two boys sparred in a grand garden, elegantly laid out. One boy was obviously Roku, the man apparently hadn't changed his hairstyle in eighty –odd years. The other was a muscular young man, a bit stockier than Roku, but just as good, and apparently resourceful. Amaya watched as he backed Roku up and then got him to trip over a raised tree root. He grabbed Roku right before he fell, then let him hit the ground._

_"Looks like I win again, Roku," the other boy grinned._

_"Are you kidding?" Roku replied. "The tree root did all the work." The boy reached down and helped Roku up. Roku placed a hand on the other boy's shoulder, adding genuinely, "Nice one Sozin."_

_"Wait, Sozin?" Amaya blinked. "You were friends? I thought you and Fire Lord Sozin were sworn enemies or something."_

_"No," Roku said, watching the scene with a nostalgic light in his eye as the two boys left together. "Back then he was just Prince Sozin, and he was my best friend."_

_The two boys walked through an arch and a pretty young girl dressed in expensive clothes crossed in front of them. Roku went red, eyes following her. Sozin nudged him._

_"Say something to her," he hissed. Roku took a few steps after the girl and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out besides a dim "Uhh." He groaned as she left and fell back onto the grass. Sozin dropped next to him and threw grass in his face._

_"Smooth, casanova," Amaya grinned, nudging Roku, who looked unabashed._

_"Love is hard, when you're young," he shrugged. Amaya sighed._

_"You aren't kidding."_

_"Your young Prince cares more for you than you think," Roku said simply. "It gets easier, I promise."_

_"It better," Amaya grumbled. "Or I'm going to go crazy."_

_"I felt hat way myself at times. That's part of young love," Roku advised. "Now come, we have a party to attend." He placed his hand on her shoulder and the scene changed to a large gathering inside the Fire Palace. Nobles and high-ranking official went as far as the eye could see. Roku and Sozin stood at the top of a small flight of stairs dressed to the nines._

_"Wait, whose party is this?" Amaya asked._

_"Sozin's and mine. We shared many things, including a birthday."_

_Amaya watched as the two began to descend. Roku's eyes caught on the girl from the last scene and he went red. Amaya grinned as the girl did too, looking away demurely. Roku tripped, and was a moment away from a face plant when Sozin caught him, laughing._

_"I repeat, smooth, casanova," Amaya grinned._

_"Just watch," Roku said, looking a bit embarrassed this time._

_Amaya watched as the crowd parted. A group of Fire Sages made their way through the guests, standing before Sozin and Roku. Sozin moved forwards anxiously._

_"What is it?" he asked. "Did something happen to my father?"_

_"No, Prince Sozin. We are here to announce the next Avatar."_

_"Avatar?"_

_"Did they say the Avatar?"_

_Amaya's eyes went wide. She knew what was about to happen, had felt the crushing sense herself. When she found out, she had felt like something had just washed over her, pushing her down and drowning her in duty when all she wanted was to have fun._

_"It is our honor to serve you," the Fire Sages said, kneeling before Roku. "Avatar Roku." The crowd immediately followed. Sozin hesitated only a moment before bowing as well, not quite as deep as everyone else. From the look on Sozin's face, he had just experience the same feeling rushing over him._

_Roku touched her again and the scene resolved to a bedroom. Roku sat on the edge of his bed sadly, staring at an empty trunk. Sozin appeared in the doorway._

_"Hey, why aren't you packed yet, almighty Avatar?" he asked teasingly. Roku's face didn't perk up. Sozin frowned, and then leapt into the room. "Come on, show me how it's done with all four kinds of bending!" He launched into an exaggerated array of bending moves. Amaya giggled as she watched him try to force through an Airbender technique._

_"A master Airbender he was not," Roku commented, knowing what had amused her._

_"I started packing," Roku said morosely as Roku sat on the bed beside him. "But then the Fire Sages told me I wasn't going to need any worldly possessions."_

_"Oh," Sozin said quietly. He seemed considerably deflated by his friend's mood. Suddenly he reached up, unpinning the decoration from his hair, and held it out to Roku. Amaya gaped and her hand flew to her own hair, realizing it was the same piece._

_"I hope they'll at least allow you to keep this," Sozin said._

_"But this is a royal artifact!" Roku protested. "It's supposed to be worn by the prince!"_

_"And I want you to have it," Sozin insisted. Roku took it hesitantly and pinned it in place in his own hair._

_"Huh," Amaya blinked. "So all this time I've been wandering around with a crown on my head and nobody knew."_

_"Everyone who would have recognized it is long dead," Roku reminded her. "I imagine a new version has been fashioned by now."_

_The scene faded and Fang appeared beneath them. Suddenly they were soaring through the clouds and Amaya began noticing spires of rock jutting through the clouds. She recognized them, and the building rising in front of them._

_"The Southern Air Temple!" she exclaimed._

_"Yes," Roku nodded. "Where I was trained in Airbending, part of the reason you were taken there too. It's also where I met an old friend, Monk Gyatso."_

_"No way!" Amaya blinked as they pulled up beside a green balcony. An older monk took off on a glider, lines of students with their own gliders behind him. She saw Roku picking at a younger Gyatso before they took off with the rest of the students._

_"Look at this new glider trick!" Roku called to Gyatso, and proceeded to do a few loops._

_"Check this out!" Gyatso grinned and flipped his glider over, standing on the main ridge._

_"He's air surfing!" Amaya grinned. "I can't believe I never thought of that. That Aang didn't think of it either!"_

_"It's probably best that you didn't," Roku said as Gyatso lost control of his glider and fell. Roku swooped under him and caught him, but their combined weight was too much for the one glider and they crashed back onto the takeoff pad._

_"I can't believe you were friends with Gyatso too!" Amaya beamed._

_"Some friendships are so strong that they transcend lifetimes," Roku said as they took off. Now they were flying over ice floes in frigid water. Amaya stared hard at the large, flat glacier rising out of the water in front of them. Her eyes picked out two figures, an older Roku, and an old Water Tribe man._

_"Next I moved on to Waterbending at the northern Tribe. It was especially difficult for me," Roku admitted, wincing as his ex-master slammed his younger self back into the water. Young Roku popped up out of the water and attacked, washing the man all the way back into the city behind them. "But in time I mastered it as well."_

_"Pakku would have killed me if I tried that," Amaya grinned._

_The scene flickered and they were hovering over a mountain. A shirtless Roku was balanced on a plinth of rock, another man racing him up the mountainside._

_"My Earthbending teacher, Sud, was tough, uncompromising, and stubborn. And a lifelong friend," Roku added with a smirk as Sud reached the top, celebrating his victory before he realized Roku was already there drinking tea. Roku handed him a cup which he took cheerfully and they both drank._

_The scene shifted and Roku was standing at the edge of the beach. He moved confidently, with skill only found in a master, and jets of the four elements moved from around him in the four cardinal directions._

_"It was bitter, grueling work, but the results were undeniable," Roku said to her. He touched her shoulder and they were in a throne room, an adult Sozin sitting on the throne. Roku walked up to him cheerfully._

_"Hello Sozin. Or should I say Fire Lord?"_

_"Customarily my subjects bow before addressing me," Sozin said coldly, standing and walking down to him. Roku was as thrown as Amaya until Sozin grinned. "But you're the exception."_

_Roku and Sozin embraced._

_"Even after all these years he was still my best friend. And a few months later, he was my best man," he added as the scene changed to a wedding. Young Roku pulled the veils bride back and Amaya grinned._

_"So she finally found out you were alive?" she said, nudging Roku._

_"Ta Min," he said wistfully. "I was persistent."_

_"No kidding."_

_"When love is true, it finds away. And being the Avatar doesn't hurt your chances either," Roku said with a smile. Amaya watched as Sozin came up, whispered to the bride, and then pulled Roku away. Amaya and Roku followed them our onto a balcony._

_"I've been thinking about the state of the world lately," Sozin said and Roku scoffed._

_"Sozin, it's my wedding!" he whined. "Have a cookie, dance with someone!"_

_"Just hear me out," Sozin insisted, and Roku nodded. "Right from the start, I was destined to be fire Lord, and though we didn't know it, you were destined to be the Avatar. It's an amazing stroke of fate that we know each other so well."_

_"Where are you going with this?" Roku asked and Amaya could tell he was as worried as she was. Sozin stared down at the valley below the balcony, the peaceful valley shimmering at the sunset._

_"We are enjoying an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity. Why shouldn't we share that wealth with the world? In our hands is the greatest empire in history. It's time we expanded it."_

_"Sozin, no!" Roku said fiercely, stepping towards him. "The four nations are supposed to be just that; four! I don't want to hear any more of this!" He turned and walked away, not seeing the snarl on Sozin's face._

_"I didn't know it at the time," Roku said to Amaya. "But that was my first real test at the Avatar. I was unaware until many years later that Sozin had gone along with his plans."_

_Once more, Fang was underneath them as they flew beside the memory of Fang, only Roku atop that version. He stared in horror at the Fire Nation flag covering the Earth Kingdom symbol on the village wall before them. Roku landed and barged into village, stomping through until he entered the room where Sozin sat on a grand throne._

_"I've seen the colony Sozin," Roku snapped. "How dare you occupy Earth Kingdom territory?"_

_"How dare you, a citizen of the Fire Nation, address your Fire Lord in such a way? You should treat me with respect, anything less is treason," Sozin said coldly._

_"Don't do this Sozin," Roku warned. "Don't challenge me, it will only end badly. It's over."_

_Roku turned to leave, and Sozin lunged, sending an enormous fire blast at him. Roku was gone though, and Sozin turned, looking for him. Roku emerged from the ground behind him and blasted him back into the doors with a wave of air. Rock shot from the ground, hooking Sozin's robes and hauling him upwards. Roku placed his hands together and suddenly his eyes glowed. A wall of air burst from around him, decimating the tower they stood in. Amaya winced as debris slid through her spirit form. Roku was left dangling in a ruined foundation. Roku rose up in a cyclone of air._

_"I am sparing you Sozin, for the sake of the friendship we once had. Putting another foot out of line will result in your permanent end," Roku threatened, before turning and riding his cyclone away._

_"Come," Roku said sadly as Fang appeared under them once more. "Sozin and I didn't speak for twenty-five years. I spent most of my free time here, in my home," he said as they hovered above a small but modest home on the side of the volcanic island Amaya and her friends had landed on. Now though, the island was green and lush, filled with plants and houses._

_But that was all about to change she saw as the volcano spat brimstone and flaming debris into the sky. Roku and Ta Min, both considerably older, burst from the cottage and looked around. Roku grabbed his wife and shot a hole in the ash cloud, pulling her through. Villagers poured from houses and ran along behind them, making for the seashore. Ta min pulled away from Roku and ran with the others as he turned to face the volcano, readied to save his village._

_He started by circling himself in an orb of wind, cleaning the air around him so he could breath. But them the lava began to flow. Roku did what Amaya had done to save the fortuneteller's village, raising a breaker wall in front of the lava, but the first wave was enough to brush the top of the wall. Roku jumped down and split the rock, the rift reaching all the way to the sea. As the lava breached the wall it flowed out, into the sea._

_"You're kicking the volcano's proverbial butt," Amaya grinned at Roku._

_"Unfortunately, it didn't last," Roku said, and Amaya fell silent, remembering that Roku died here._

_More lava poured from the cone. Roku rose up and exhaled, cooling some of the flowing lava until it was rock, but he was still facing the lava flying from the top, and the poisonous gasses that kept exploding in his face._

_"Battling the elements and poisonous gasses was bad enough," Roku said grimly. "I had to do it all while I could barely breathe."_

_Fang swooped from the clouds, intent on aiding Roku._

_"No Fang, go!" the old man called. "I'm fine, go!"_

_Roku turned, arms moving through forms, and his eyes began to glow brightly. He turned and blasted out the back wall of the volcano, intending to drain it into the sea behind. But suddenly the other volcano on the island blew, sending gouts of smoke and debris into the air. Roku slumped disconsolately._

_"Need a hand old friend?"_

_Amaya gaped as an ancient Sozin flew down from the clouds, mounted on a green dragon, and she was nearly as surprised as Roku._

_"Sozin?" the old man gasped._

_"There's not a moment to waste," Sozin said. He dismounted and stood at the edge of the volcano next to Roku. He began siphoning the heat from the magma, throwing it out into the air as Roku worked to force the lava away from the village and into the sea. The volcano rumbled and the stone under Sozin's feet collapsed. He began to fall, but suddenly he was on a new, solid perch, courtesy of Roku. The two men locked eyes for a moment before the volcano rumbled violently, throwing them both down the slope._

_Roku helped Sozin up and the two began running._

_"Don't breath the toxic gas!" Roku warned as dodged jet after jet bursting from the unstable stone beneath their feet. A blast flew up directly into Roku's face. He froze as Sozin ran ahead, swaying. His eyes fluttered weakly, unfocused, and he hit the ground._

_"It's too much," he said weakly, stretching out a hand pleadingly to Sozin. "Please," he begged._

_Sozin looked at him coldly. "Without you, all my plans are suddenly possible," he said calmly, and maybe that was the worst part. He had no remorse, no guilt, as he mounted his dragon and rode away._

_"He left you to die alone," Amaya said, staring in horror as Roku collapsed._

_"Not quite alone," Roku said softly as Fang dropped from the sky, coiling around Roku as the wave of ash washed over them, burying the pair of them completely._

_Suddenly they were in a bright room, a baby in a blanket lifted into the air by a woman._

_"Wait, who is… Oh," Amaya said. When one Avatar dies another is born. "That's me."_

_"Make sense of our shared past, Amaya," Roku advised. "It will help you bring peace and prosperity back to the land." He faded. Amaya turned, looking for him._

_"Roku? Roku?"_

It was no use. She was back on the island, staring at her friends.

"So, what'd you find out?" Sokka asked. Amaya sighed and began to recite.

* * *

Zuko stared at the crown in Iroh's hand. It made sense, but at the same time it didn't. Two great-grandfathers on opposite sides, their legacies warring inside of him. It was completely crazy, yet felt completely true.

"Amaya wears this," Zuko said softly. "I recognize it. How did you get it?"

"No," Iroh said, shaking his head. "She wears the spiritual reflection of it." Upon seeing his nephew's blank face, he clarified. "Sometimes when two people are tied closely together, be it by love or hate, an object shared between them takes on a spirit of its own. Sozin gave this to Roku before he left to train to become and Airbender. Their shared history, their tumultuous future, their legacies combining in you, your connection to the Avatar. All of this generated a spiritual copy of this. You and the Avatar are tied closer than any two people may have ever been. I suspect this is the source of your shared dreams, your ability to see each other across amazing distances."

Zuko took the crown, staring at it. So much had been explained, yet so many questions remained. If anything, this just encouraged him to abandon his family and go to Amaya's side. If they were so closely tied, did that mean he should be with her instead of his family, no matter what good he thought he was doing? It was just so confusing. He could feel his resolve to stay breaking under the combined strain of everything, his uncle's imprisonment, his new knowledge, Azula's taunts, his father's control, the way he felt for her.

* * *

"So even after everything he did for him, Sozin just left Roku to die?" Katara said furiously.

"It's like these people are born bad!" Toph exclaimed.

"No!" Amaya said sharply. "That's not the point of Roku's story."

"Then what is?" Sokka asked.

"Well, Roku was just as much Fire Nation as Sozin. If anything it just proves that everyone has the capability for great good and great evil. It means everything and everyone, Fire Lord and Fire Nation included, are worth treating like they have a choice. And I think it was also about friendship."

"Do you think friendships can really last more than one lifetime?" Toph asked, eyes on the ground. Amaya stepped forwards and took her hand, Katara doing the same.

"I don't see why not."

"Well scientifically speaking, there's no way to prove-"

"Sokka, just hold hands!"

* * *

**Alright guys, come in! 502 hits and six reviews? We can do better. I don't like doing this, but no new chapter until I get 10 total reviews. That's just four on this chapter. They don't have to be huge a huge in-depth analysis, but something would be nice.**


	4. In Which Blood is Bent

**Wow. Just... wow. Threaten to hold back a chapter and look what happens! Okay, let's try to get to twenty review this time. By the way, sorry this wasn't up sooner, there was some minor heartbreak that had to be dealt with and I just wasn't ni the Avatar mood for a bit.**

* * *

"Look at all those messenger hawks," Sokka said conversationally. "I've been thinking of getting myself one, so I wouldn't have to talk to anyone."

"I gotta say, I like the idea of not talking to you," Toph grinned. Sokka frowned at her.

"So, what to do with our last silver piece," Amaya mused, pulling the coin out. "I mean, I know Sokka wants food, but any other suggestions?"

"You know me so well," Sokka said fondly.

"How about some more money?" Toph suggested. "There." She pointed down an alley to a man set up with a game of shells. A man placed his bet and the dealer swapped the cups around, the man guessed, and was led away in tears by his friend.

"This is where you seeing people are at a disadvantage, because the dealer moves the pebble at the last second, but I can see it with my Earthbending," Toph explained.

"You there!" called the gamer, pointing to Toph. "How about a friendly game?"

"How can I play?" Toph asked, using her sweet voice. "I'm blind."

"You don't have to see to be lucky," the man said, and Amaya snickered as Toph sat down, running her hands all over the table and the bowls. She placed their silver piece on the table and the man grinned.

"Okay, here we go," he grinned, shuffling the bowls. Toph grinned and pointed as the bowls stopped moving. He lifted the bowl and exposed the pebble.

"Wow, you're amazing," he said, tossing two silver pieces across the table. "Care to make it a bit more interesting?"

"How could it be more interesting?" Toph asked innocently.

"Well," he grinned. "You throw in your friend's fancy sword, and I put twenty silver pieces against it. Then it's more interesting."

Toph snatched Sokka's sword away and held it out. "I'll do it for forty pieces!" she said. The man grinned, hefting two heavy bags onto the table.

"Deal."

He showed the pebble and began shuffling, the bowls blurring as they weaved around each other. Amaya was an Airbender, her forte was spinning, but even she felt a bit nauseous watching. Toph grinned as she guessed.

"Sorry little lady, but I- What?" The gamer gaped at the pebble. Sokka snatched his sword and Toph grabbed the money, shrieking, "I won!" They ran off directly to the market and went nuts, getting much more nice food than they would have normally, still high on their win.

They were laughing as they proudly tossed their haul in front of Katara.

"Where did you guys get the money for all this food?" she gaped.

"Toph got us money," Amaya grinned, biting into a crunchy apple and grinning. "She scammed a shell gamer."

"She used Earthbending to win!" Sokka explained. "Classic!"

"So she _cheated._"

"I only cheated because _he _was cheating," Toph snapped. "I cheated a cheater!"

"I just don't think we should make a habit of doing this sort of thing," Katara said.

"Because it's fun?" Toph asked. "And you hate fun?"

"I don't hate fun!" Katara said, offended. She put Momo on her head and pointed. "See? Fun!"

"Katara," Amaya said sagely, standing and raising her headband so that her arrow was exposed. "I will personally make you an Avatar promise that we won't make a habit of these kinds of scams. If you don't wear Momo as a hat anymore," she added. Katara giggled and agreed.

It didn't last long. Soon Toph was roping Sokka and Amaya into scam after scam. It was funny how nobody picked up on what Toph was doing, even when a lot changed sides suddenly. They just thought it was their bad luck. It was also funny how often the people who ran these games picked Toph out of a crowd. They saw her small size and blind eyes and assumed she was easy money. They soon found out different, much to their financial detriment. Amaya particularly prized the look on the face of an owner of a strong-arm game when Toph destroyed the bell at the top with a single hit. Of course, they didn't stay to chat, they took their money and ran.

Toph was amazingly creative at making up scams. One of her best ideas involved jostling a rich nobles carriage and laying down beside it. When the owner saw what happened, Sokka appeared dressed as a guard and looking important and angry. Bribery reduced a lot of people by a lot of pennies, and as soon as Sokka let the scamee go, Toph got up and Amaya came out, grinning.

This increase in funds lead to a lot more comfort around the campsite. They had invested in some new sleeping bags, and the state of their food had taken a dramatic upswing. Instead of mushroom soup they were having rice and noodles and fresh fruit and vegetables, complete with spices. Sokka had bought a new strap to hold his sword, considerably nicer than the old piece of leather. Toph got some nicer shoes, which she promptly ruined by tearing the soles off. Amaya invested in small bottles of shampoo and conditioner, reveling in the scented luxury that was clean hair. They even attempted to placate Katara with new pots and some of her favorite delicacies for dinner, to no avail.

"I think you guys should stop this," Katara said. "If you don't I just know something bad's going to happen."

"For once would you loosen up and not be a sourpuss?" Toph groaned.

"Oh, you think I should be more like you?" Katara snapped. "Like some wild child?"

"Maybe! Maybe then you'd see how good we have it! We're traveling around the world making easy money, with no parents to tell us what to do!"

"Ah, I see," Katara said superiorly. "You're doing this because of your parents."

"Katara," Amaya said slowly. They all knew Toph's parents were a touchy subject, but Katara and Toph had never held back when they really go into it, which was more often than anyone else in camp.

"They were controlling over you," Katara continued, "so now you're acting like you hate them, but I don't think that's true. I think you miss them."

"I do hate them," Toph snapped, looking away.

"You do miss them! But you don't want to admit it, so you act out like some kind of wild child."

"I ran away from my parents to help Amaya!" Toph snapped, standing, a sure sign someone was about to get stoned.

"You know what? It doesn't matter!" Katara stated. "These scams put us all at risk, and we don't need that! We've already got some third-eyed freak after us!"

"Speaking of mister three-eyes, I think I've got a name for him," Sokka broke in. "Sparky sparky boom man! What do you think?" Silence. "Just think about it."

"We have enough money," Katara yelled. "You need to stop!"

"I'll stop when I want to stop, and not when you tell me!" Toph yelled back and stomped away, plopping on the ground and making a stone tent.

"Oh great, she's doing that again," Amaya groaned. "Come on Katara, did you have to do it like that?"

"What do you mean?" Katara demanded.

"I mean, it's Toph. The more you try and force her to do something, the more she digs her heels in."

"Whatever," Katara snorted. "Come on Amaya, let's go train."

Amaya sighed, but followed as they went down to a pot of dry ground in the river below them. They trained for a while, passing water back and forth to work on their synchronicity, before starting a sort of contest, seeing who could do the most impressive tricks with the water. It was a good way to work on creativity and quick-thinking, because they only had a few seconds to trump the last one.

When they were finally done and redressed in dry clothes, they returned to Sokka to find him with a bird perched on his shoulder.

"Sokka, tell me you didn't buy a bird," Katara said angrily.

"Not just a bird, a messenger hawk!" Sokka corrected. "Now we can send messages all over the world, even to Gran-Gran!"

"How is it trained?" Amaya asked interestedly. Sokka stared at the bird.

"You know, I'm not sure. Hey, Hawky! Gran-Gran, South Pole!" The hawk cawed and ruffled it's feathers. "I think he gets it." Momo attacked suddenly and Sokka was now afflicted with two furious animals racing around his head and using him as a launching pad. "Hey, no, bad Hawky, make nice!"

* * *

"So were you guys out scamming again?"

"Yes, we were."

"And you don't think that's dangerous?"

"No, I don't."

"Really?"

"Yes, really!"

"Then what's this?" Katara asked, producing a piece of paper.

"I don't know!" Toph raged. "I mean seriously, what's with you people? I'm blind!"

"It's a wanted poster for you, the Runaway! Is that what you're called now? Are you proud of this?"

"Where did you get that?" Toph demanded.

"It doesn't matter," Katara hedged.

"You went through my stuff!" Toph exclaimed. Amaya blinked. She knew Katara was upset about all this, but that was crossing a line. In a campsite there's a limited amount of privacy, so what there was was respected. "You had no right!"

"Your stuff was messy, I was cleaning up, and I found it!"

"That's a lie! You're lying Katara!"

"Okay, so I am. But you've just been so out of control I knew you were hiding something, and I was right. This!" Katara brandished the poster. Toph seized it and threw it to the ground, walking away angrily. "Don't you walk away from me when I'm talking to you!"

"Or what, mom?" Toph demanded, whirling on her. "You'll send me to my room?"

"I wish I could!"

"Well you can't! You're not my mom, and you're not their mom either!" Toph said, pointing at Amaya and Sokka.

"I never said I was!" Katara said defensively.

"Well you sure act like it! You act like you can boss us all around, but you're just a regular kid like the rest of us. You can't tell me what to do, I can do whatever I want!"

"I don't… act motherly!" Katara sputtered. "Sokka, do I act like a mother."

"I'm staying out of this!"

"Amaya?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't touch this with a ten-foot pole."

"I can't be round you right now!" Toph raged, stomping off.

"Well I can't be around you either!" Katara snarled back, stalking off in the other direction.

"I know Hawky," Sokka sighed. "Why can't they just get along? Hey," he said slyly. "You want to test out my messenger hawk with me, Amaya?"

"Sure, what do you have in mind?" Amaya shrugged.

"I write a note and send it to Katara, saying it's from Toph and she wants to apologize! It's foolproof!"

"If you mean it's proof you're a fool, then yes, yes it is," Amaya agreed. "I'll just sit back and watch."

"Suit yourself," Sokka said, reaching down and grabbing paper and ink. "Katara, sorry for everything. Your friend, Toph." He rolled up the missive and put it in the tube on the hawk's back, pointing it towards Katara. The hawk took off, landing by her side. Katara pulled out the letter, then stood up and yelled.

"I know this is from you, Sokka! Toph can't write!" She shredded the note. "Urgh, you're all driving me crazy!"

* * *

"Should this scam of their be taking this long?" Amaya asked. "I mean, I'm amazed Katara wanted to pull it to begin with, and it was a really good idea, but… something's up."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Sokka agreed. "Let's go check it out. Momo, Hawky, behave."

"Appa's large and in charge," Amaya grinned. They walked into town, looking around for a jail, a shop, anyplace Katara and Toph might be.

"Where do you think they are?" Sokka asked as they reached the central statue of Ozai.

"Sokka?" Amaya pointed out. "I think the real question here is where is anyone?"

The town was completely silent, not a soul in sight. Amaya and Sokka looked around. Amaya heard a small inhale and whirled. Her eyes hit immediately on a hulking outline on a roof.

"Down!" she roared, throwing Sokka to the side, safe behind the base the statue stood on. "It's sparky sparky boom man!"

"Now that I think about it that doesn't quite fit," Sokka squeaked.

"It's a mouthful," Amaya snapped. "Now move!"

They dove for an alley as another blast hit the base they were hiding behind. Amaya flipped a wagon, sending it skidding down the alley. She and Sokka ducked behind it for cover.

"We can't run from this guy, he's too good!" Sokka yelped. "He shoots fire from his brain!"

"Split up," Amaya suggested. "He may be good but he can't be in two places at once." She heard the concussive blast that preceded an explosion and showed Sokka down one street, jumping up onto the roof and running past the man. An explosion erupted on the roof behind her, blasting her through the air and into the bronze chest of Ozai's statue. She hit with a painful clang and dropped to the ground on her knees, swaying dazedly before falling forwards. A metal foot connected with the ground in front of her and Amaya looked up blearily. She saw and heard him inhale, and then…

His head was encased in water. Amaya looked up in shock to see Sokka, Katara, and Toph standing behind him.

"Amaya, get up!" Katara shrieked, dragging her upright. Sokka and Toph chased after them, Toph pausing to send a boulder at the man. They didn't stop to see if it connected, but from the sound of crunching rock and the following explosion it probably didn't. However, he didn't follow.

"I've got it!" Sokka called as he ran. "The perfect name! Combustion man!"

"Great job Sokka," Toph shouted. "Now let's go before combustion man catches us!"

"See, it fits so well!"

* * *

The next night was spent in a forest as usual, and because they were bored, ghost stories were told. Katara unequivocally won.

"Wait!" Toph shouted, standing. "Did you guys hear that? I hear people… under the mountain… screaming!"

"Pfft," Sokka snorted. "Yeah right, good one Toph."

"Hello, children."

Amaya screamed and ran to the other side of the fire, clutching Katara while Sokka clutched her.

"Oh, sorry to frighten you," an old woman said, stepping into the firelight with a smile. She was hunched, with long white hair and skin uncharacteristically dark for the Fire Nation. "You children shouldn't be out here at night. I have an inn nearby. Would you like to come in for a cup of spiced tea and some warm beds?"

"Yes please," Sokka whimpered, all of them thoroughly freaked for the night.

Hama gave them time to get their things together and pack up camp before she led them into a nearby village. Her in was perched on top of a bluff overlooking the main body of the village. They dumped their things inside the door and Hama led them to a dining room and began to bustle about making tea.

"Thanks for letting us stay the night," Katara said. "You have a lovely inn."

"Aren't you sweet?" Hama smiled. "But you kids should be careful. People have been disappearing in those woods you have been camped in."

"What do you mean 'disappearing?'" Sokka asked.

"I mean when the moon is full, people go into those woods and they don't come back out," Hama said grimly. "More tea?" she asked cheerfully, looking around at their nervous faces. "Oh, don't worry. You're all completely safe here. Tell you what, what don't I show you to your rooms so you can get a good night's sleep?"

"That would be nice," Amaya said thankfully. They gathered their things and moved after Hama upstairs to the rentable rooms. They were each given their own room, something that hadn't happened since the ship. It was very late by that part, so none of them bothered unpacking anything, instead dressing for bed and falling asleep with warm bellies of spiced tea.

Hama woke them early the next morning to help with the shopping. Toph stayed behind, but Katara and Amaya were up and ready to help in exchange for their meal and board the night before. Sokka, however, slumped along while carrying their baskets.

"That Mr. Yao seems to have a thing for you," Amaya grinned as they left a stall.

"Maybe we should go back and see if he'll give us some free komodo sausages," Katara suggested deviously.

"You would have me use my feminine charms against that poor man?" Hama asked, offended. But then a wide grin broke across her face. "I think we girls will get along just fine. Here, why don't you children take these things back to the inn. I'll be along shortly."

"This is a mysterious little town you got here," Sokka said to Hama. She smiled.

"Mysterious town for mysterious children," she replied, then walked away.

"What was that about?" Amaya asked as she took some of Sokka's load.

"Well, I was thinking. Remember what Hama said about people disappearing? It sounds like Spirit World stuff. I was trying to find out what might have gone down here to anger the spirits, then you could sew it up all Avatar-like and we could be on our way."

"Good idea," Amaya approved. "But from what I've seen so far, it's just a normal little town."

"I don't know," Sokka said as they placed the food in the inn's kitchen. "That Hama seems kind of strange to me."

"Nonsense," Katara said as she unpacked a basket. "She's just a nice old lady who gave us place to stay the night. She kind of reminds me of Gran-Gran."

"But what did she mean by 'mysterious children?'"

"Oh I don't know," Katara said sarcastically. "Maybe she found a bunch of strange kids camping in the woods in the middle of the night?"

"I'm going to have a look around," Sokka decided, walking off.

"Sokka!" Katara protested, following him as he went upstairs. Amaya and Toph trailed after. "Sokka, you can't just snoop through someone's house like that!"

"She could be home any time," Amaya reminded him.

"I just want a quick look around," Sokka said, waving them away as he opened doors. He pulled open a cupboard and several small marionettes spilled out.

"That's creepy, you have to admit," Amaya said, staring at the puppets.

"So she has a hobby," Katara said, but she didn't sound so sure as she packed away the puppets again. "Sokka, come on, you've looked enough!"

He ignored her and walked up to the attic, the others trailing after him.

"Just an ordinary puppet-loving innkeeper? Then why does she have a locked door in her attic?"

"Probably to keep people like you out of her stuff!" Katara snapped as he peered through the keyhole. "This is just rude!"

"It's empty except for a little chest," Sokka reported.

"Maybe it's treasure!" Toph theorized excitedly.

"Sokka, what are you doing? You're breaking into a private room!" Katara exclaimed, scandalized as he began picking the lock.

"I have to see what's inside!" Sokka insisted, shoving open the door.

"No you don't, you just want to," Amaya said. "Guys, we shouldn't be doing this."

"I can't open it, does anyone see a key?" Sokka asked as he tugged at the lid.

"Oh, give it here!" Toph grinned as she pulled off her meteorite bracelet. She formed it into a key and shoved it into the lock.

"Hurry up!"

"This isn't as easy as it looks!"

"We really shouldn't be doing this, Katara's right, it's rude!"

"I'm leaving, I won't be a part of this!"

"Fine!" Sokka agreed. "Do it Toph."

"Got it!" Toph grinned as the lock clicked.

"I'll tell you what's in the box."

They all whirled to see Hama standing in the doorway. Shamefacedly, Sokka held out the box. Hama took it and opened it up, lifting out a comb.

And so it all came out over cooking and eating a traditional Water Tribe dinner. Hama grew up a bender in the South Tribe and was the last of the benders to be taken away. She explained how they were tied before being given water, and how, after months of practice, she managed to get free and made herself a new life in the Fire Nation. Katara was beyond moved by her story.

The next day Hama took Katara out to teach her the Southern Traditions. Amaya didn't go, her identity had to remain a secret. So she, Sokka, and Toph went out to search for something that could annoy a spirit to the point of kidnapping.

"This makes no sense," Amaya sighed. "This place is beautiful, no fire, no great battle, no polluted water."

"Maybe the moon spirit just turned mean," Toph suggested.

"The moon spirit if a kind woman who rules the sky with compassion and… lunar goodness!" Sokka snapped.

"Hey, sir?" Amaya called to a passing traveler. "Can you tell us about the spirit who's been attacking the villagers?"

"Well," the man said thoughtfully. "The only person to ever get away was old man Ding."

"Where does old man Ding live?" Toph demanded.

They got directions, not very good ones though, and it took them a full two hours to find a house with a stooped old man outside boarding up his house.

"Er, old man Ding?" Amaya called. The man jumped, his hammer hitting home on his thumb, he pulled back cursing and demanded, "Eh, whaddaya want? Can't you see I'm busy? Got a full moon rising! And why does everybody call me that, I'm not that old!" he bent forwards and tried to lift a small board to place over a window, but her couldn't get it off the ground, not for lack of trying through. Amaya took pity on him and stepped forwards, grabbing the opposite end of the plank and lifting it. "Not ready to get snapped up by some moon monster at least!"

"That's actually what we want to talk to you about," Sokka said as he began pounding nails in.

"Did you see the spirit that took you?" Amaya asked.

"Oh, didn't see no spirit. Just felt something strange come over me, like I was possessed. I tried to fight it, but I couldn't control my own limbs! It made me walk up the mountain. It darn near had me inside a cave. I looked up at the moon, for what I thought would be my last glimpse of light, when the sun started to come up, and I got control of myself again! I just hightailed it away from there as quick as I could!"

"Oh no!" Toph yelped suddenly. "I did hear screaming under the mountain, the missing villagers must still be there!"

The three exchanged horrified looks, and then took off running. They sprinted back to their campsite from the night before and Toph bent to pick up the trail, placing a hand on the ground.

"I can still hear them, they're this way!"

They sprinted off frantically into the trees, following Toph's lead. Every now and then she would pause to get her bearing again, but she lead them straight and true to the yawning black opening of a cave.

"I can't see anything!" Sokka protested.

"That's why you have me," Toph grinned, before grabbing him and yanking him into the blackness. Amaya and Toph ran surely, their Earthbending guiding them around corners and letting them avoid divots and jags in the walls and floors. Sokka stumbled along behind them, cursing fluently as he banged into rocks and tripped all over the place.

The pitch blackness began to lessen, a flickering quality to the new light that was explained as they arrived in front of an iron door reinforced with metal. On either side glowed two torches. Toph steadied herself and then blasted the door off its hinges. Sokka seized a torch and they ran inside.

"We're saved!" said a weak voice.

The scene greeting them wasn't pleasant. More than two dozen people sat or stood, shackled to columns. They were all pale and thin from lack of exposure and food. Several were sporting white streaks in their hair that seemed a little premature, probably from stress. The place reeked of unwashed bodies.

"I didn't know spirits made prisons like this," Sokka said in confusion. Amaya felt ill.

"That's because they don't. A human did this."

"Oh," Sokka said softly as Amaya and Toph moved among the villagers, freeing them from their shackles.

"Who did this?" Amaya asked a woman as she freed her.

"It was the innkeeper, Hama!" she replied furiously. This woman was obviously a fairly recent captive. Her faces still held a healthy glow and a lot of fight resided in her eyes.

"And Katara's with her right now," Amaya said, paling as her eyes went wide.

"You can get there faster, go!" Toph shouted. "I've got it under control here!"

Sokka and Amaya burst from the cave, Amaya keeping a tight grip on him to lead him through the darkness.

"Where could they be?" Sokka panted as they ran.

"I don't know!"

A pained cry split the air, a croaky voice.

"Hama," Amaya hissed.

"Over there!" Sokka said, grabbing her and pulling her along a faint path between the trees. In a clearing stood Katara, towering over Hama, who was sprawled on the ground.

"We know what you've been doing Hama!" Sokka shouted. "Give it up, you're outnumbered!"

"No," the old woman purred, rising. "You've outnumbered yourselves."

Amaya had never felt a sensation like this before. It was like every part of her was now stiff, tight, drawn to its limit and pulled from her control. She was thrown through the air and landed on her face, breathing in the scent of earth. This had never happened before. But she knew what it was.

"Aokniortitok," Amaya whispered, eyes wide.

"Katara, look out!" Sokka yelled. She heard the sound of a blade being drawn and felt ill. Hama was trying to make Sokka kill his own sister.

"Incoming!" Amaya yelled as she was pulled to her feet and walked towards Katara. One thing Hama hadn't counted on was the fact that she was dealing with not just some Fire Nation girl, but the Avatar. She felt the earth under her feet, the moon over her head, and drew strength from them both. Who needed cosmic energy when the earth already teemed with it?

"Argh!" Amaya shrieked as she ripped her limbs away from Hama's control. The old woman looked surprised, but she quickly recovered.

"Very well. You may be able to keep them from hurting themselves, but can you stop them hurting each other?" Hama demanded of Katara.

"Argh!"

Amaya whirled to see Sokka flying through the air towards her, sword leading, ready to impale her. She dove, but it didn't matter. Sokka stopped inches from her, and Amaya looked up to see Katara with her hand raised. Her face was pained as Hama strained and twitched in front of her.

"Release her," Amaya said calmly, raising her own arms.

"No, are you crazy?" Sokka demanded.

"Katara," Amaya said softly, looking at her friend. Katara looked near the breaking point. "Katara, let go. I've got her."

Slowly, Katara lowered her arms. Hama's freedom of movement came back for barely a second before it was snatched away by Amaya, who quickly took Katara's spot, restraining the bender with both hands before lowering her slowly to the earth, pinning her hand and feet in stone.

"You know?" Hama shrieked as she was restrained. "How, how do _you _know how to bloodbend?"

"You mean aokniortitok?" Amaya asked solemnly. "You didn't invent it Hama, you just rediscovered it."

Toph ran up then with the villagers then. It was she who raised Hama from the ground, subtly concealing the fact that Earthbending had been used to restrain the old woman. One of the men had brought his shackles, and they were promptly given a new home on Hama's bony wrists.

"You're going to be locked up forever," the man snarled, and Hama was lead away by a party of angry villagers. If she lasted the night it would be amazing.

"My work is done," Hama said as she was escorted back to the village. She paused, turning. "Congratulations girls. You're bloodbenders!"

Katara pressed a hand to her mouth and lowered her head, tears streaming from her eyes.

"How did you do that?" Sokka demanded of Amaya. "You didn't know what they were talking about?"

"How did you know?" Katara asked brokenly. "And how are you not… disgusted?"

Amaya's face was hard as she stared after Hama. "Bloodbending, turning the body against itself, is no different from what Ty Lee does, what I taught you to do, but it seems darker because it's nature is internal, more intimate. The fact is, were it anyone besides Hama, I wouldn't have done it. I would have just Earthbended her into the ground. But Hama needs to know what she's uncovered first hand."

"Uncovered?" Katara asked, straightening and looking at Amaya. "What do you mean?"

Amaya snorted. "Hama's arrogant if she thinks she invented that technique. Waterbenders have been using it for centuries. Or, they used to."

"How do you know this?" Toph asked. "More of your secret monk training?"

"Well," Amaya said, shifting uncomfortably. "When I finished reading all of the anatomy and zoology books in the library at the temple, I may have… snuck into a restricted section."

"Monks have restricted sections?" Sokka blinked.

Amaya nodded. "They keep some of the more secret or dangerous books there. One of them was about Bloodbending, or aokniortitok, as it's properly called. It was used way back when the nations were still scuffling over land constantly. But Katara, what you have to understand is that there's a dark side to every discipline. Airbending seems peaceful and calm? If I put my mind to it, I could draw the breath from your lungs until you asphyxiated. And Bloodbending isn't all bad. It was used in medicine as well, to keep people from bleeding out, to clear blocked veins, to remove bruises. But, as the fighting died down it basically lost its main purpose, and since only incredibly strong benders could do it, it just… faded."

"I didn't think about it like that," Katara said softly. "But… you're right. I can see how, if you're doing it for the right reasons, it could be helpful."

"It's just like everything else," Amaya shrugged. "It depends on who's using it and how. Not that I'd go spreading it around."

* * *

**That last part was mostly because I had one big question during this episode and that was, how come Hama was the only one who figured this out? I mean, tons of advances are made during wars, did no one notice this technique in the... centuries people had been waterbending? I'm probably just analyzing this too much (blame my AP World teacher) but it just always struck me as off.  
**

**One more think. Aokniortitok is Inuit for bloodbending, or as least as close to bloodbending as I could get, which was actually surprisingly close. Aok-blood, niortitok-is becoming bent. Pretty neat huh? took me ages to find a decent dictionary.  
**


	5. In Which Amaya Dreams of Cheese

**Review quota: 30 **

**This is more of an emotional chapter. We see more of Amaya's, as I call it, 'Harry Potter complex.' She's terrified that if her friends (Golden Trio/Gaang) follow her into her fight against the main big bad (Vodemort/Ozai) they'll die.**

* * *

To put it frankly, Amaya felt stretched.

"So how'd you pick this place?" Toph asked as they found a flat stretch of land and began setting up camp.

"It's uninhabited and there's a harbor surrounded by cliffs," Sokka shrugged. "When dad and I saw it on a map it seemed like a good idea."

"Nice one Sokka," Katara praised. "And we're here four days ahead of schedule."

"Four days," Amaya muttered under her breath. "Four days, four, _four._"

"Hey, calm down," Sokka said, picking up on her mumbling. "It's four days from now. We can relax and…"

"And sleep," Katara said drily as Sokka's snores started up. "Sokka's got a point. We're here, we're ready, the best thing to do is build up our strength." She laid down and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Amaya sighed, stretching out and inhaling the scent of earth and grass. She didn't get how Sokka could stand being in that smelly sleeping bag when that smell was, to her, basically a sleeping pill on steroids. Within seconds her eyes were closed and she was out.

_She sat among the flames once more, Ozai standing just beyond them, a dark silhouette standing over her and cackling. Only now, she had a face to put to the name. The fire parted and Ozai stepped through, his visage revealed._

"_The little Avatar," he sneered down at her. "Did you actually think you stood a chance? You can't even Firebend. You let your pathetic friends die in your place, but their sacrifice is going to amount to nothing?"_

"_Die?" Amaya squeaked. Ozai threw his head back and cackled, waving his hand. The fire parted and Amaya screamed in fear. Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Hakoda and his men, the Duke, Pipsqueak, Jet, Longshot, Smellerbee, Appa, Momo. They were spread across the ground, bathed in blood, their eyes wide and staring. _

_As she watched, Katara's hand jerked and then moved, pushing her upright. All the figures began to move, pushing themselves to their feet and staggering towards her. Amaya hopped up and staggered backwards, fearful of the grasping white hands._

"_You got us killed."_

"_This was your fault."_

"_I hate you."_

_Something pulled at the hem of her shirt. Amaya turned to see tiny little Aang staring up at her with empty grey eyes. Blood stained the front of his shirt, still pouring from a wound in his chest._

"_You left me behind," he whimpered. "Why'd you do that, Aya? Why'd you let me die?"_

"_I didn't, I didn't!" Amaya screamed. "I didn't, I didn't mean to, I didn-" _

_Aang stretched out his hands and shoved her hard. Amaya fell backwards, flames licking at her hair and clothes as she passed through, singing her skin. She hit the ground hard._

Amaya sat up, panting. She rolled to her hand and knees with a groan and crawled through the grass, towards the edge of the cliff. Her head dangled over the side and she hoped the cool, salty breeze would calm her stomach. No such luck. Her insides tightened and suddenly she was vomiting over the side of the cliff, the taste of bile coating her tongue. She threw up, then dry heaved for another few minutes when her stomach had nothing more to offer.

When she was finally finished, Amaya rolled onto her side, pressing a hand to her painful stomach and closing her eyes. Images of the dead danced in front of them again and she snapped them open.

"Not working, not working," she muttered. "Don't wanna… can't let that happen.. can't let them…" She couldn't even get the last word out. Instead, she rolled to her feet and walked to the bushes, stretching out her muscles a bit before she began kicking at them. Her mind rolled through various forms, cycling through exercises. She alternated between kicks involving jumps and kicks involving spins. She went up on one leg and got as many kicks in as possible while her balance held.

Her mind was still pushing at her with worries when she ran out of kicks, so she moved to a thick oak tree, remembering a story Gyatso had once told her, of a master Earthbender who punched the ironwood trees outside of his house for twenty years until he reached spiritual enlightenment. It wasn't quite an ironwood, but still.

She punched the oak solidly, watching stoically as the bark splintered under her fist. She pulled her hand back and stared at it with detached curiosity. It should hurt, there was a large dent in the skin over her knuckle. But there was no pain, so she punched again. Still no pain, so she punched harder and faster, chopping and slashing with her forearms as she danced around the tree. She had thought it would hurt, had expected it to, even though she didn't care. What did it matter if she got hurt so long as her friends didn't?

Katara woke the next morning to muffled thuds. She looked over at Sokka groggily, and the pair of them turned into the direction of the noises. Amaya stood there, a blank expression on her face as she punched the trunk of a tree over and over. Sweat poured down her face and neck, flyaway strands of hair sticking to her.

"Been up long?" Katara asked, staggering to her side.

"At least seven hours," Amaya replied vaguely as she continued.

"And you've been training this whole time?" Katara blinked, wide-eyed.

"Of course," Amaya said waspishly. "I can't lose to Ozai, I have to keep training."

Amaya's shifted her angle and Katara inhaled sharply, moving forwards and seizing Amaya's hands in her own. The skin around her knuckles and fingers was black and blue, some of it a disgusting yellow. Blood dripped from her hands, coming from the broken skin over her knuckles. Katara scanned her for further injuries as saw a foot poking from under her skirt. Swooping down, she yanked the hem of her skirt up some. Long, thin scrapes ran all over the tops and bottoms of her feet.

"You did this to yourself," Katara said, feeling ill.

"I didn't notice," Amaya shrugged. "It doesn't hurt anyway. Besides, I have more important things to worry about some scratches. My form is sloppy, my stances are weak, and I still don't know even the basics of Firebending."

"You don't need to," Sokka shrugged as he came over with his map. "I mean, Firebendering will be a non issue on the Day of Black Sun. And besides, fire's a stupid element."

"Sokka, look at this!" Katara snapped, holding out Amaya's hands to him. He looked up and his eyes went wide.

"Amaya, are you crazy?" he demanded. "Look, there's bark, dirt… You trained until you _bled?_"

"Let me heal you," Katara said immediately, dragging her over to the fire where their water bottles rested.

"I'm fine," Amaya said, tugging her hands away. "I mean, I have so much to do, I don't have time."

"Sit down at let me fix your hands at least," Katara bargained.

"Fine," Amaya sighed, and slumped to the ground. Katara pulled water from the bottles. It glowed around her hands as she healed the cuts and bruises on her knuckles. Before Amaya could protest, she lunged down, pinning one ankle down as she healed those injuries too, moving onto the next foot despite Amaya's shouts.

"Katara, this is ridiculous, I've fought in much worse shape than this before, and I'm just training," Amaya said, yanking away. She turned, bowed to the three of them, and then shot off over a rocky bluff.

"I'm worried about her," Katara said softly.

"So am I," Sokka admitted. "I mean, I've never seen Amaya like this before. She's never shown any sign of being nervous before, but now…"

"And she's not even showing it now, really, but why else would she be doing this?" Katara mused.

"She was throwing up last night," Toph put in. "I woke up when I heard it. She was muttering something about not working and she can't let something happen to 'them.'"

"We'll talk to her when she comes back," Sokka said.

"Good idea," Katara agreed. "Maybe she'll get all this out of her system."

But Amaya didn't come back in a few hours like they expected. She didn't come back when Katara called for dinner either. They sat awake waiting for her, but one by one they all three drifted off.

Amaya trudged back into camp well after midnight, new wounds on her feet and hands and a nasty bruise on her side from a spill she had taken over a log. She fell onto the ground and pillowed her head in her arms, breathing deeply and drifting off almost immediately, lulled by the scent of earth and pure exhaustion.

She snapped awake not an hour later, the same dream as the night before swimming in front of her eyes. Of course, she hadn't eaten anything all day, not since she emptied her stomach the night before, so there was nothing to throw up. Not that that stopped her from dry heaving for a good five minutes.

"Have to… Can't let them," she mumbled as she stood and staggered off to a group of sheep, circling them. Her eyes felt heavy with sleep, but they also felt welded open. There was a strange taste in her mouth and her legs felt weak and shaky. Her head was spinning all over the place as she circled the innocent sheep, not really sure what she was doing besides working on stances.

"Amaya, it's the middle of the night," said Katara's voice form behind her. "This isn't the time to train. Come on, go to sleep."

"Can't, don't wanna see," Amaya rambled. "Gotta get better or you all might… no don't think about it… don't think… gotta get better."

"Amaya!" Katara called, wrenching her out of her muttering and grabbing her shoulders. "It's okay if you get some sleep tonight, okay? For me, please, get some sleep?" she pleaded. She could tell Amaya was not in good shape. She trembled and seemed barely able to stand. Her clothes seemed slightly looser and her skin was dry. Her hair hadn't been fixed in days, which really said something, as Amaya's one vanity was her hair. There were deep, almost black circles under her bloodshot eyes, and she was ghostly pale.

"Okay," Amaya submitted. "Okay."

Katara placed her hands on her shoulders and escorted her back to the camp. They were almost halfway there when Amaya suddenly dropped, her ankle rolling. Katara didn't catch her before she hit the ground, she was so surprised.

"Amaya!" Katara shouted, ducking down to check for injuries. "Are you…?"

Amaya snored lightly, fast asleep. Katara took the time to look her over thoroughly. Injured hands and feet, obviously. Dark circles and bloodshot eyes, lack of sleep. She'd lost weight, was irritable and listless Katara couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Amaya sit down and eat a meal. Her swaying could be attributed to dehydration. Amaya was shutting down.

Katara knelt beside her, pulling water from a pouch and parting her lips, forcing it in Amaya's mouth and tilting her head so it would go down. That was the priority, followed by food and then sleep. Having done all that she could, Katara returned to her sleeping bag.

She woke the next morning to find Amaya gone, Toph and Sokka sitting glumly around the campfire.

"Where's Amaya?" Katara asked. Sokka pointed to the ground. Training was carved into the earth, signed with an arrow.

"I don't understand," Sokka said, shaking his head. "How has she gotten this bad this quickly?"

"I think… I think she's having nightmares," Katara hazarded. "I woke up last night and saw her training. She was muttering about seeing something if she slept. She kept talking about something she didn't want to happen to us. I think… I think she's scared we'll be killed in the invasion!"

"That's stupid!" Toph barked. "Hasn't she seen us pull our own weight often enough?"

"I don't think that's really occurred to her yet," Katara admitted. "She's not sleeping or eating, her mind's not in tip top shape."

"It's so strange," Sokka blinked. "I mean, Amaya's always the one that knows what's what and is raring for a fight. Why is she so scared now?"

"Because we're involved," Katara explained softly. "She's not concerned about herself Sokka. It's us she's worried about."

"We have to talk to her," Sokka said. "She's going to kill herself if she keeps going like this."

"Let's go find arrows and talk some sense into her," Toph groaned, pushing herself to her feet. They started walking, and soon they could hear the sound of stones clattering together. When they stepped over a hillock they could see Amaya at the top of the cliffs, moving through forms and sending jagged lines of stone down the cliffs.

"Amaya, we need to talk," Katara called.

"Can't talk, gotta train," Amaya replied, shaking her head as she flipped.

"No, we're going to talk," Sokka said, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the edge. "And stop that, you're even making me feel ill."

"What?" Amaya snapped, yanking free. She flopped onto her butt and placed her head in her hands. Immediately her eyes began to droop, but she forced them open.

"Amaya, you've been dreaming, haven't you?" Katara asked slowly.

"Happens to a lot of people, particularly when they're asleep," Amaya said harshly. "Yes, I dream, can I go?"

"You've been dreaming about us getting hurt," Sokka said confidently. Immediately she recoiled, glaring up at him.

"I have not! Why would I dream about that? I mean… it's not like we're going to face the Fire Lord in three days or anything…"

"Two days," Toph corrected and Amaya blanched, leaping up.

"T-two… two days? I have to keep training, I have to…"

"Amaya stop!" Katara roared, placing her hands on Amaya's shoulders and physically stopping her. Amaya leaned back in surprise, looking at Katara wearily. "You're working yourself up over nothing!"

"It's not nothing!" Amaya snapped. "It's your damn lives and I'm not comfortable with them in the balance!"

"We're putting them there with or without your permission," Sokka said sternly. "It's not for you to decide if we fight or not."

"You think I don't know that?" Amaya demanded. "I do! But the fact is, if I can't stop you, I'll protect you, and anything that could put you all at risk that is within my power to fix I have to!"

"No, you don't," Katara said softly. "Amaya, you'll be facing the Fire Lord. We'll be with the main invasion force at the gates. You can't do anything from the palace. We have to take care of ourselves. And you need sleep."

Amaya slumped. "I know I do. I know. I've felt so stretched lately, like I have to fix everything, and whenever I close my eyes… I couldn't sleep and that just made things worse. Everything snowballed and I… I don't know what I'm doing anymore."

"I do," Toph said confidently. "You're losing it."

She got the weakest of smiles. "You're right. I am losing it, I know. But I… I can't seem to stop."

"Let's start with getting some food and water in you, okay?" Katara suggested, wrapping an arm around Amaya's shoulders and guiding her gently back to camp. "You're not eating, that's not healthy."

"Yes mom," Amaya muttered as she sat heavily next to the fire pit. Katara scooped out some of the cold stew from the night before into a bowl and held it out to her. Amaya took it and began nibbling cautiously. Suddenly she was ravenous, cramming as much food and more than she was capable of into her mouth, barely chewing before she swallowed.

"Hey, hey," Sokka cautioned. "Slow down. You'll make yourself worse."

She had the decency to look abashed while swallowing a mouthful that made her look like a chipmunk.

"Sorry," she said hoarsely, before stuffing another bite into her mouth. She polished that bowl off and soon Katara had her sipping from a canteen, slowly rehydrating herself.

"Okay, I can't take anymore," Amaya said finally. "My tummy's all sloshy and I have to pee."

"Okay," Katara nodded. "You go do that, then we'll see if we can't get you some sleep."

"Okay," Amaya agreed. She went off to the tree line, returning shortly afterwards looking exhausted. With a belly full of stew and water it was even harder than before to stay upright. Amaya stretched out on the grass by the fire, pillowing her forehead on her arms and burrowing her nose in the grass.

"Mmm," she hummed happily as her eyes fluttered closed.

_It was the same. Dead, grasping hands, bloody rags of clothes. Scarred, burned flesh, the cloying scent of flaming skin and hair all around her. The world kept flipping. One moment she was buried alive, the next drowning, the next being battered by the winds of a tornado. Then it was Sokka buried alive, Toph drowning, Katara on fire. Screams echoed in her mind._

Amaya awoke with a shriek, curling into the fetal position and blubbering as tears drifted from her eyes. She vaguely felt hands rubbing her back soothingly, playing with her hair, voices consoling her. It seemed to last forever, but eventually she had no more tears. She uncurled her tight muscles and sat up, rolling her shoulders gently.

"Are you okay now?" Katara asked.

"Yes," Amaya nodded, her throat raw and scratchy from crying. "But I can't go back to sleep."

"Huh?" Toph blinked.

"I'm staying awake until the invasion. If I go back to sleep… I can't… I can't go through that anymore guys, I can't be trapped in my own head."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Katara asked.

"No. In fact, now that my heads a bit clearer, I know it's not. But I don't have a choice. If I get any more nervous, I may run, and I'm not exaggerating."

"Okay," Katara said dubiously. "I don't suppose we can make you sleep. Do what you think is best Amaya, but remember. You're the one we're relying on tomorrow to take down Ozai. Will this make you better or worse?"

With those words, Katara and the others returned to their sleeping bags and pulled their blankets up, returning to sleep. Amaya pressed her back against the ridge of a rock, purposefully keeping herself uncomfortable so as not to fall asleep. Her eyes were wide as she stared up at the stars, trying to count them to occupy her mind.

It was strange, like she suddenly looked up and it was dawn, and the sun was slipping over the water, dying it pink and orange. Pretty, Amaya thought vaguely. It's like a really shiny, wavy… peach.

Any and all thought of what was good or bad for her was gone, completely ruined by the lack of sleep. As the others rose and had breakfast, watching her edgily, Amaya joined them, eating and drinking obediently under Katara's watchful eyes. She moved off by herself once the meal was done, doing everything in her power to stay asleep, from dangling her head over the side of the cliffs upside down to working her way through a series of easy kata, loosening her muscles.

"You're working yourself to the bone, child."

Amaya whirled and saw Momo sitting on a tree branch. She exhaled, smiling.

"It's just Momo," she breathed. "And I thought I heard some guy with a swanky accent."

"My accent has never been called swanky before."

Amaya stared with wide eyes as Momo spoke.

"Well, are you going to stare at me like I'm a hogmonkey all day?" Momo asked irritably.

"You're talking."

"Oh yes, very good, give the girl a prize."

"But… you've never talked before," Amaya blinked.

"That's because you're straight trippin' boo."

Amaya recoiled. "Momo, I don't understand."

Sokka, Katara, and Toph all stared as Amaya chattered at Momo, giggling girlishly and poking his ear with a finger.

"Amaya, we're all starting to get worried," Katara said.

"You've been awake too long," Sokka added simply.

Toph snorted. "And you crossed from your normal weird self to just plain freaky."

"I get what you're saying," Amaya admitted. "But I just can't face those nightmares."

She turned away, only to find a man sitting there in front of a low table, slices of cheese spread before him.

"I've cleared a special place for the cheese slices," he said with a grin. Shaking her head, she turned, but the man was still there, waving a slice of cheese in her face. She snatched it angrily and threw it on the ground, grinding her heel in it. The man wailed. "You have blasphemed, you cheese-hater! How could you?"

Amaya rolled her eyes and turned away, but the man was still there, a crazy grin on his face as he held up a slice of cheese to the sky.

"The cheese gods shall smite you!" he said with a crazy grin. Amaya growled.

"You listen up, you crazy weirdo, take your stupid cheese and get out of my face!"

"Do you have any idea what she's talking about?" Sokka whispered to Katara.

"Not a clue."

"Gah!" Amaya wailed, steeping back. "You freak! Get the cheese away from me, it's moldy! No, I won't eat it, I won't!"

She ran off into the trees.

"Well that was weird," Toph said. Katara and Sokka nodded.

Amaya staggered back into camp a few hours later after dark, and blinked. A cloud bed. It looked all… soft… and fluffy. She walked over and crawled up, poking it, before laying her face down and examining it closely. She stood up and bounced a bit.

"Well so far this is one of the better hallucinations," she sighed.

"Hey, we worked hard on that!"

Amaya turned to see the others standing there.

"It's real," Katara said. "You need a good night's sleep, Amaya."

"No!" she snapped. "What if one of you is hurt tomorrow because I wasn't good enough? What then? I can't sleep!"

"Look, you'll be no use to us tomorrow if you're too tired to stand," Sokka snapped.

"Amaya, I've been watching you get better since the day I met you," Katara said. "You've grown so much it's amazing. And now it's time for you to prove that you can beat the Fire Lord. You're ready, Amaya. You are. So just get some sleep."

Amaya slumped. "Okay," she whispered. "Okay." She sat back down on her cloud bed, leaning back cautiously and pulling her feet up. The fluff cradled her perfectly, soothing the aches in her back and neck. Amaya let her eyes flutter closed, and soon she was off in a dream.

_She was relaxing on a cloud throne, ruling over a cloud throne room. A blue dragon uncoiled from behind her throne. The left side of its face was an ugly, scarred red, but she merely rubbed its snout affectionately and stared down at the world below. She watched as scenes spiraled in and out of her vision. Waves licking at white sand beaches. Beautiful ice-capped mountains wreathed in morning mist. Silver waterfalls running through just green jungle and over a cliffside. Soft music played as she watched ever-shifting sand dunes, the wind painting designs in the dust. Hot sun blared overhead, stinging her eyes._

Amaya sat up, yawning and stretching as the real sun dyed the insides of her eyelids orange.

"I fell asleep," she mumbled happily, before her eyes went comically wide. "I fell asleep! The invasion's today! Oh Tui and La, I have to practice, I have to get better, I have to…"

Toph, Katara, and Sokka exchanged worried looks as Amaya rambled. Suddenly she stopped and grinned.

"Just kidding. I'm back in business baby!"

* * *

Zuko stared around his room, deciding what to take with him. His resolve had cracked, gone. The war meeting had done it in. He sat there with everything he thought he wanted, but he had to be completely fake to get it, and worst of all, he suddenly didn't want it anymore. His father's affection came with so many strings, his throne more a prison than a royal symbol.

And then there was the fact that he no longer felt Amaya anymore. It was almost worse than when she did appear. At least then he knew she was alive, could take some solace in the fact that in front of her he could let the charade drop, that he could have that warm, cared for feeling that had been taken away from him with his mother. But now he had no chance for any of that, and it was only once it was gone that he realized that that was what he craved, beyond the love and respect of his father, the throne of a warring country, and a false personality.

He was leaving. He was going to her, the one woman who had ever made him feel like he, the real Zuko, was worth more than anything. He had realized something. Chasing her, hunting her down, it was all for one thing: to feel loved by his father. But he didn't feel that here. He did feel it with Amaya though.

* * *

**Okay I'm seriously amazed at the response to the last chapter. I love you guys, really I do. You're the reason Amaya's gotten this far. I want to thank each and everyone of you who read, favorited, and/or reviewed. I wish I could hug you guys!**


	6. In Which Amaya Cries

**Review quota: 45 (I know you guys can do it!)  
**

**And here's the invasion, yeah! It ended up being all one long chapter, mostly because I was focused on Amaya and Zuko, and, well, most of the first half is Sokka and Katara and Toph. Is it just me or does this one seem to have longer chapters? Maybe I'm crazy, or maybe it's the way I'm mashing up the episodes. Eh, whatever, you don't care, you're just here for the story!  
**

* * *

"So, you got a goodnight's sleep I see," Katara said as Amaya bustled around the campsite, looking refreshed.

"Yep!" she beamed. "I feel ready for today, I really do."

"Good," Sokka acknowledged. "We've got a lot riding on today."

Katara looked out nervously over the sea, eying the white mist rolling in edgily. "Do you think the fog will be a problem in the invasion?"

Sokka squinted, looking in the same direction. He beamed suddenly. "Katara, that is the invasion. Look." He passed her a spyglass and she fit it to her eye.

"Ships!" she exclaimed. "The ships!"

"Is it?" Amaya asked excitedly, snatching the eyepiece and looking through it. She picked out the outlines of Water Tribe ships in the fog. "It is!"

"Let's go!" Sokka called, already on Appa with Toph. The two girls ran over and they soared down to the thin, sandy beach inside the sheltered harbor. Amaya and Toph immediately got to work raising stone docks out of the ground. The quartet stood in the harbor at the end of the last of the rock docks, watching as the last of the Water Tribe ships made berth. Many soldiers had already filed off the ships.

"Dad!" Katara cried happily, jumping on the man in a hug. Sokka ran over, beaming like an idiot.

"Did you find all the people I asked for?" he asked eagerly.

"I did," Hakoda smiled, but he looked worried. "I'm just a little confused son. Some of these men don't really look like warriors."

Amaya saw what he meant as two Foggy Swamp native stepped off of the boats and immediately began blabbering, trying to figure out what a rock is.

"Hue!" Amaya grinned upon seeing the old man steeping from a ship.

"Trust me, they're better in a fight than they look," Sokka assured him.

"I'll take your word for it," Hakoda said, staring edgily at them.

"I just wish they'd but on some pants," Bato grumbled as he walked past.

"Pants are an illusion, and so is death," Hue said vaguely.

"We'll take your word for it," Amaya assured him.

"Hey Katara."

"Haru!" Katara squeaked, immediately going red in the face as he hugged her tightly. Amaya giggled as he placed a hand on Katara's shoulder in a friendly, yet intimate way. Katara went even redder.

"Hey Toph," Amaya said, grabbing the little girl and dragging her over. "This is Haru. When we met him his village was controlled by Firebenders so he had to hide his Earthbending."

"But then Katara and I helped me find and free my father, and we drove out the Fire Nation," Haru said, giving Katara an affectionate, adoring looked that was all too adorable, though Amaya wasn't sure how she felt about his new facial hair.

"Katara helped us find our courage, so now we're here to help you," Tyro said, coming up behind his son and placing his big, calloused hands on the two teen's shoulders.

"No way," Toph said, turning suddenly. "Is that…?"

She was suddenly swept up and crushed to a bare, flabby chest.

"Hippo happy to see Blind Bandit!" the huge man said in his deep, gravelly voice.

"You two clowns ready for a rematch?" Toph snapped.

"The Boulder and the Hippo no longer fight for the entertainment of others," the Boulder said in his usual dramatic way. "Now we fight for our country!"

Toph's face morphed into a wide, toothy grin. "Sweet!"

An explosion suddenly ripped through the air and Amaya perked up as a cloud of smoke drifted from a ship.

"Looks like the mechanist made it!" she said cheerfully as everyone ran over to see what the problem was. Teo and his father emerged from the smoke coughing and waving their hands in front of their faces. They were covered in some sort of sticky brown substance. Pipsqueak and the Duke followed them out, also painted in brown gunk.

"New invention?" Sokka asked interestedly.

"Yes," the inventor admitted. "But unfortunately the incendiary capabilities of peanut sauce are unstable at best."

Sokka blinked. "You're making peanut sauce bombs?"

"They're destructive!" Pipsqueak rumbled.

"And delicious!" the Duke added, licking the sauce off of his face.

As Sokka conferred with the mechanist, Amaya turned to see the last three people emerging from the smoke. She hadn't seen them since the Crystal Catacombs, she hadn't been sure they made it out.

"I see you got better," Amaya said to Jet.

"I did," he replied, watching her edgily as she crossed her arms.

"You know, Katara's not going to be thrilled when she finds out you're here. Not so sure I can trust you myself."

Jet winced. "I understand."

"Think you can follow orders and leave some Firebenders for the rest of us?"

Jet looked up sharply at Amaya, who was smirking in a way remarkably reminiscent to the Jet of old. Immediately, a similar smirk made its way up on his face.

"I think I can manage," he said. Amaya beamed and then threw herself on him, hugging hem tightly.

"Then welcome aboard!" she said cheerfully before attacking Longshot with a similar bear hug. The archer blushed a bit and patted her shoulder awkwardly. Amaya figured Smellerbee wouldn't appreciate a hug, so she settled for ruffling the girl's short, puffy hair.

"Hey 'bee," she greeted.

"Good to see you Amaya," the girl said with a grin.

"Hey Amaya!"

Amaya turned, leaning down to give Teo a hug.

"I'm covered in peanut sauce," he warned.

"Eh, you were already pretty sweet," Amaya said with a wink as she hugged the boy, avoiding the sauce patches.

"Look what my dad and I made you," Teo said when he was released. Amaya took the light metal pole from his hands, recognizing what it was. Her eyes lit up as she twirled it and wings extended.

"A new glider!" she beamed. "This is amazing!"

"And as a special feature," the mechanist said, coming over and grabbing a handle. "I added snack compartment!" He twisted the handle and a few nuts dropped into his mouth from a niche in the metal.

Amaya laughed. "I love it, thanks guys."

* * *

"The great Gates of Azulon," Hakoda said, lowering his spyglass. Amaya narrowed her eyes at the towering gold statue of Sozin's son. "Katara, you and the Swamp benders whip up a fog cover for us!"

The order was relayed among the ships and suddenly they were enveloped in a cloud of dense sea mist.

"Keep it up," Hakoda called. "We're almost through!"

Then an alarm ran. Nets began rising out of the sea, going ten, twenty, thirty feet into the air, from Azulon's sleeves to two golden dragon's mouths. Flames shot from between worn muzzles and the nets lit themselves on fire. Firebenders on jet skis shot from the way station in the base of Azulon's statue, coming towards the boats.

"Everyone, keep calm!" Hakoda called. "Get belowdeck!"

Everybody hustled to get below. Amaya followed Katara, Toph, and the Duke, Sokka and Hakoda bringing up the rear. When they got through the narrow entryway and dropped into the submarine, the mechanist was already waiting to flip the switch that detached them from the boat above. The hatch was closed, Katara and the Swamp benders took their places, and they shot off into the water.

For Amaya, travelling underwater was no big deal, but Hakoda and the mechanist were awed. Toph, for her part, was too sick to be furious like she normally would have been.

"Congratulations," she moaned, lifting her head from between her knees. "You managed to invent a worse way to travel than flying."

"Helmet?" the Duke offered. Toph took the armament and promptly hurled into it. Amaya chuckled. Toph would never be able to stomach any form of travel beyond overland. She shook her head and took a spot in the back of the sub, helping Katara and Hue pull the massive machine through the water.

They resurfaced for air and everyone went outside to stretch their limbs and get some fresh air. It was getting stale in the subs, and everyone was eager to get out for a moment. Amaya stood on top of one across from Toph, Katara, and Sokka. She had dug her Kyoshi Warrior armor out of storage and was wearing it over her usual yellow tunic and orange leggings. A brand new orange cape was tied tightly under the armor, protecting her neck from the hot Fire Nation sun. Her braid was tight, the crown in place, her fans at her hips, her glider in hands.

She felt like Amaya, the Avatar, and she felt ready.

"Good luck," Sokka said, stepping forwards and grasping her forearm. Amaya did the same before pulling him into a hug that Toph and Katara joined in on.

"Listen up everybody!" Hakoda called. They released and turned to look at him. "The next time we surface we'll be on the beaches. From then on its work, and break time's over. Now come on, back in the subs."

Toph and Sokka trooped into the sub, but Katara hung back with Amaya.

"You can do this," Katara said softly, locking eyes with Amaya, who grinned.

"I know. I feel more confident now. You'll be great," she added, placing a hand on Katara's shoulder. The two girls embraced tightly, and then Katara returned inside the sub. Amaya twirled her new glider, opening the wings, and took off.

It was amazingly easy to get to the palace. One thing all Airbenders were aware of from birth was that people very rarely looked up. Amaya soared, free and unhindered, over the sea, breathing deeply of the bracing breeze. She swooped over the lower town, sticking to the mountainous fringes as a precaution, and circled around behind the crest of the volcano, coming up behind the palace.

It rose, grand and imposing, into the air, the entire complex spread out below, a mess of green gardens and red roofs. It was pretty. Amaya would give the Fire Nation this, they had some impressive architecture.

She crept along the outer wall of the volcano, watching for guards and biding her time. Going in too soon before the eclipse could mean she would be taken down by the fully-functional guard. Going in too late could mean the Fire Lord regaining his strength before she had finished him. She had to time this perfectly, and she went by the shouts and explosions coming up from the lower town and the sun in the sky.

When she deemed the time was right, she swooped down into the complex, landing lightly on the roof of a house. She peered around, and frowned. She would understand people staying inside because of the attack or the impending eclipse, but surely someone would be out and about. The whole spread was completely silent, no sound coming from anywhere, not the laughter of children of worried shouts from mothers for them to get inside to safety. It was eerie, and Amaya felt a sense of foreboding.

Something was wrong. No one was here.

To test her theory, she walked boldly right up the steps and into the palace, breaking down doors and ripping aside tapestries looking for secret passages. When she had finally been through all the other rooms, she stood before the great gilded doors to the throne room.

Amaya took a deep breath. This was her last chance. She exhaled sharply and blasted the door off its hinges. She leapt inside, glider poised to twirl and diffuse multiple fire blasts, but there was nothing. No heat from the flames that should be flickering in the trough before the throne. No one on the throne. No guard, so soldier, no Fire Lord.

They were all gone.

"No," Amaya groaned, dropping to the ground. She screamed, "Fire Lord Ozai, where are you?"

Amaya knelt disconsolately, feeling hopeless only for a moment before her mind recalled the situation. If she hurried, maybe they could still come up with something else, find another way to the Fire Lord.

"You're mine, Ozai," she hissed, opening her glider indoors, an old Airbender act thought to be highly disrespectful, and soared through the halls and out into the sky. She didn't bother with roundabout ways or stealthy moves. She flew straight and true to the heart of the fight, where the tanks were ringed in front of the destroyed wall. They had almost taken the tower. She saw Sokka and Hakoda down below, crouched over maps. Katara was up and looking at her.

"Please tell me you're back because the Fire Lord was a big baby and he surrendered without a fight," Sokka groaned.

"There's no one in the palatial complex," Amaya said grimly. "Not a soul. Ozai must have expected this and gone somewhere to hide."

Katara groaned. "No, then that means all this was a waste. He could be anywhere, miles away by now!"

"No, I don't think so," Sokka mused. "I don't think he'd go too far. If I were Ozai, I'd have a hidden bunker underground, close enough to command my army but far enough away so that I'm not in danger."

"Underground bunker?" Toph grinned. "I think I'm your girl."

He dug in his pocket and pulled something out. "Going by this clock-thing the mechanist gave me, we've got exactly ten minutes to the eclipse."

Amaya grinned. "Then there's still time. We can still do this."

"Hold on," Katara said. "We don't know the Fire Lord's still close. Maybe we should spend the rest of this time making sure everybody gets out."

"No," Hakoda said. "All these men came here today knowing full well what could happen. They're committed to this mission. I think if there's a chance, they'd want Amaya to go for it."

"It's up to you," Sokka said, turning the decision over to Amaya, who nodded.

"We go for it," she said. "Toph, Sokka, come with me. Katara, stay here and treat the wounded, we need everybody in tip top shape. If this goes right, we'll be coming out hot, hopefully not literally. We'll need Appa."

The sky bison lowed as they all climbed aboard, and Amaya grinned. "You look great buddy," she assured him as they took off. They reached the volcano in probably record time, and Toph jumped down, feeling the rock.

"Anything?" Sokka asked hopefully.

"Yup," Toph grinned. "There are natural tunnels criss-crossing the whole thing, plus a big metal thing in the center."

"That'll be it," Amaya nodded. "Let's go."

Toph broke through the top layer of stone and they stepped into a dimly lit tunnel. It was swelteringly hot and Amaya was almost immediately panting as they ran along the tunnel following Toph's directions. They hit an abrupt stop when they ran into a field of hot magma geysers.

"We can do this," Sokka said with affected confidence. "We just need some speed and caution." He stepped forwards and Amaya yanked him back right before the geyser in front of his foot went off, cooling it with a blast of air.

"That was caution?" she asked pointedly.

"Okay, caution, speed, and luck."

"Let's book it," Amaya sighed and they sprinted across the stone, the rock uncomfortably hot beneath their feet. Geysers went off behind them, sending molten rock high into the air.

"The tunnel goes on for about a mile and then runs straight into the metal bunker," Toph directed as they ran. Amaya grabbed her and hauled her back, throwing out a hand to stop Sokka before they all plunged over the side and into a magma field.

"It's entirely covered!" Sokka said, gaping at the floor. "How do we get across now?"

Amaya studied the air curiously and twirled her glider, deciding it was safe. "Climb on," she instructed. Cautiously, Toph and Sokka locked their arms around one side and Amaya climbed on the middle. She took off, soaring over the magma and dodging the occasional bubble that rose and burst, scattering magma pellets.

"I don't get it!" Sokka yelled as they flew. "How is this holding all of us?"

"Teo's dad made some modifications," Amaya explained. "Plus, thermals. They make for amazing updrafts. They're helping with the extra weight."

Still though, the extra weight didn't help as they barely avoided a crash landing on the other side of the magma pool. They staggered to a stop in front of a huge metal bunker, easily as tall as some of the smaller mountains around the Air Temples.

"That's some door," Sokka whistled. Toph stepped forwards and tapped it curiously before grinning.

"That's nothing," she grinned. She struck it hard with her elbows, denting the metal badly, and then proceeded to peel the metal apart. She stepped through, Amaya following, and gestured for the pair of them to follow her.

"I am so glad we added you to the group!" Sokka rejoiced.

The trio raced through the corridors, following Toph's unerring instructions. They roared past a Y in the tunnels and a startled nobleman, before they all realized they had been spotted. They turned slowly, looking at the startled and fearful nobleman. Amaya slammed him back into the wall. The man yelped.

"Fire Lord Ozai is to the left, up the stairs, and at the end of the hall, can't miss it!" he squeaked. Amaya beamed at him.

"Thank you!" she smiled, before they took off, following his instructions. They reached another door and this time Amaya didn't let Toph bother. She simply blasted it back off its hinges, metal screaming as it slid across the stone floor on the other side. They charged in, looking around warily. The hall was lined with columns, leading to a throne where a figure lounged.

But it wasn't Ozai.

"Azula," Amaya hissed.

"I knew you weren't dead," Azula said conversationally as she stroked a hand through her hair. "No matter what Zuzu said. And I see that assassin didn't do his job. Ah well, I suppose some people just aren't as good as they think they are."

"Where is he?" Amaya demanded. "I don't have time for you right now!"

"Oh, am I not good enough?" Azula pouted, rising. "Really Avatar, you're hurting my feelings."

"No such creature," Amaya said immediately as Sokka stepped forwards.

"Stop wasting time and tell us what we need to know," he said, pointing with his sword. "You're powerless right now; you're in no position to resist."

"And stick to the facts!" Toph added. "I'll be able to tell if you're lying."

"Are you sure?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows and looking mildly intrigued. "I'm quite a good liar. I am a four hundred foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings," she said simply.

"Okay you're good, I admit it," Toph allowed. She pushed forwards and the earth rose, encasing Azula. "But you still might want to consider telling us what we want to know."

Azula smirked as the stone cracked from around her and dropped to the ground. Amaya and the others recoiled in surprise as she brushed some stray dust from her shoulder plate. Two green-robed figures hit the ground in front of her.

"When I left Ba Sing Se I took some souvenirs," Azula smiled. "Dai Li agents."

"I hate these guys!" Amaya snapped as she came in hard, swinging her staff. A wall of wind rushed towards Azula but the two Dai Li jumped forwards, shielding them all with a stone wall. The wind broke against it harmlessly. The fight was far from over though. Amaya blasted through the wall, Sokka following her. Rock shot up under her feet. She used it for momentum and repelled off of it, landing in front of the Dai Li agents. They stomped, lifting cubes of rock into the air and hurling them at her. Amaya spun, staff flying, and the stone shattered against the metal. Toph shot through a hole in the wall and threw the Dai Li into the wall with pillars of stone. They clung there and shot their own pillars at Toph, who stopped them by raising walls on either side of her. She then sent a wave of earth towards Azula, but it moved too slow. The princess was ready, and used the attack to her advantage as Amaya had, flying off of it and flipping back into her throne.

Amaya charged for her, only to see a Dai Li agent block her path, slamming into the ground and raising a wall. She jumped and angled herself, crashing through the thin stone feet-first in a shower of rubble. She used the momentum of her landing to raise a pillar and fling the Dai Li agent into the air and over his wall. She turned on Azula, hurling a blast of air at her. It decimated the throne but Azula was too fast. She jumped out of the way. Amaya flung wave after wave of air at the princess but she jumped from wall to pillar and back, avoiding them. She slid down a fallen pillar and Toph ran to Amaya's side. They took off after Azula, but were intercepted by the other Dai Li agent. He flung Azula into the air and through the hole Toph had created. She flew threw, followed by her guard, Toph, and Amaya.

"I can't pin her down, she's too fast!" Amaya shouted as Azula made for the door. The Dai Li sealed it behind them but Amaya paid no attention to the stone slab blocking their way. She barreled through it and followed Azula. Toph barreled ahead, surprising the Dai Li man with a pillar from the wall. It slammed him into an I beam. Toph bent the edges around him, pinning him in, and then followed Amaya after Azula.

"Wait, Toph, Amaya, stop attacking!" Sokka called. Amaya and Toph turned to him in confusion, and Azula did too, standing here confidently and smirking. "Don't you see? She's just playing with you!"

"No true," Azula said with mock offense. "I'm giving it my all."

"You're trying to keep us here and waste all our time!" Toph realized.

"I think you're friend just said that, genius," Azula snarled. "And since you can't see, I should tell you, I'm rolling my eyes."

"I'll roll your whole head!" Toph roared, moving forwards, but Amaya held her back.

"So we ignore her." Amaya said decidedly. "We ignore her and find the Fire Lord ourselves."

The three turned and walked off, leaving Azula smirking behind them.

"It's a trap! Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Ignore!" Sokka reminded.

"So it's Sokka right? My favorite prisoner used to talk about you."

Sokka froze.

"She was convinced you were going to come rescue her. Of course, you never did, and she gave up on you."

Sokka turned with a roar and ran at her. It was lucky Toph was watching while he was blind with rage. She had the forethought to pin Azula to the wall in stone shackles as Sokka went nose-to-nose with her.

"Where. Is. Suki?" he growled. "Where's Suki? Answer me!"

"Sokka, she won't talk!" Amaya said sharply, placing a restraining hand on his shoulder. "I don't like her anymore than you, but she's too strong to break."

"I'm flattered," Azula smirked. "To know the great _Avatar_ thinks so highly of me."

"Where are you keeping her?" Sokka roared.

Azula cocked her head to the side and smiled. "Oh, sounds like the Firebending's back on."

A foot flew up wreathed in blue fire, pushing Sokka back. She kicked and they all dropped. Azula completely rotated in her cuffs and blasted them away from her wrists before pushing off the wall and rushing Amaya, who rolled to the side. She, Toph, and Sokka stood solidly, staring Azula down.

"Dad's all the way at the end of the hall and down a secret staircase on the right. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to see you now," she said maliciously, before she took off running down the hall.

"I fell for it," Sokka berated himself. "I fell for it and wasted all our time!"

"It's not your fault," Toph assured him. "Azula was ready, she had every move planned out."

"But now we're out of time."

"So what?" Amaya said simply. "I can still face the Fire Lord. I came with a job people expect me to do."

"No," Sokka said firmly. "Not today. The Fire Lord had this all planned out. This just… wasn't our day. We thought we had the element of surprise, but we didn't," he continued. "The best thing for us to do now is go help our friends."

"You're right," Amaya admitted with a sigh. She had so hoped to end it today, to end all of it.

"You'll have another chance," Sokka said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know you will."

"You're right," Amaya repeated. "Now come on, let's get out of here."

"I don't know about you, but I don't feel like messing with tunnels anymore," Toph said, walking to the wall. It exploded under her hands and light filtered in, a straight shot to the surface. They ran along it, Amaya blowing a blast on the bison whistle as she went. When they broke the surface, Appa was there and waiting. They scrambled on quickly and rose into the air.

"Oh no," Sokka said.

Amaya stared. War balloons, dozens of them, the mechanist's original design plus more advanced, much larger versions interspersed between them, carrying far more men and far more fire power.

"This is bad," Amaya muttered as she took them down in the palace complex where they others were waiting. She gave Katara a distraught look.

"Azula was waiting for us," Sokka said immediately as he hopped down. "She knew about the invasion and she had every move planned out. If we can get to the beaches, we have a good chance of getting away though."

"They have air power, but what machine was ever built that could out-fly an Airbender?" Amaya grinned, opening her glider and hopping on.

"Appa and I can help too," Katara said, mounting the bison and riding him high into the sky. Sokka began issuing orders on the ground, conducting his troops as the two girls made for the balloons. They wreaked havoc on the machines, Amaya having a far greater knowledge of air travel than the common Firebending soldier. She and Katara slashed through the balloons, puncturing and rending them. Their baskets dropped from the sky. The problem was though the sheer amount of Firebenders they were up against. It was like a rain of fire coming down on them from all angles.

"We can't hold them all back!" Katara called as she hunkered behind a water shield, fireballs crashing into it.

"We've done enough damage; let's get back to the others!" Amaya called over the roar of the wind and the balloon's engines.

They turned and made for the beach, getting out of range quickly. The balloons may have been bigger and heavier, which would surely have been an advantage on land, but not in the air. It meant the bulky machines were unwieldy and slow.

Amaya and Katara made it back to the others as they moved down the hillside for the beach.

"Take cover!" Sokka yelled. "I think we're about to see some bombs!"

He was right. Toph pulled an awning of rock over them as the tanks crawled down the side of the path, sturdy enough to weather the blasts.

"Why aren't they turning around to attack?" Katara asked as the balloons passed over them. Amaya's eyes widened.

"They aren't after us, they're after the submarines!" she realized. "They mean to destroy them!"

"How are we going to get away?" Sokka said, his voice tinged with defeat.

"We aren't."

They all turned to Hakoda, who was still leaning heavily on Bato.

"Then our only option is so stand and fight," Sokka said determinedly.

"Suits me, I'm not done yet, there's still Firebenders up there," Jet said with a smile, but Amaya saw through it. The Duke looked ready to drop and Longshot was out of arrows, Smellerbee leaning on him and favoring her right ankle. Jet himself was breathing heavily, an arm wrapped protectively around his weakened ribs.

"We have the Avatar, we can win this!" Sokka insisted, for once siding with Jet.

"We could win with the Avatar," Hakoda agreed, "but on another day. You kids have to escape on Appa."

"What? No!" Katara protested, running to her father and grabbing his arms, holding him tightly. "We can't leave you, we can't leave any of you."

Amaya turned her face away. Her worst fear was coming true. Not all of them would make it out. The adults wouldn't be killed though. In their own right, most of them were leaders. Leaders were kept alive to use as bargaining chips or demoralizing figures for their followers, and that tactic also ensured the lives of the others. You had to have someone to taunt for that plan to work.

"You have to go," Hakoda replied. "You and Sokka have to go with Amaya and get somewhere safe. You have to keep hope alive. That's our only chance now."

"The youngest of our group will go with you while the adults stay behind and surrender," Bato said. "We will be captured but we'll all survive this war."

"I have some experience with Fire Nation prisons," Tyro reminded them. "It won't be easy, but we'll get by."

"They're at the beach!" Sokka yelled, and that ended all argument. Immediately, adults began hustling the younger members towards Appa, saying their goodbyes. Pipsqueak lifted the Duke aboard while Teo's father carried him up. Father and son said their goodbyes, Haru and Tyro doing the same. A few Water Tribe men followed with the boy's wheelchair, strapping it down. Longshot struggled to get Smellerbee on board, juggling his weapon and her. Sokka helped Toph aboard while Katara said her good-byes to her father.

"Here," Amaya said, touching his shoulder. "I got her."

Longshot nodded and Smellerbee shifted her arm around Amaya's neck. Amaya wrapped an arm around the girl's waist and jumped, setting her gently in the saddle before turning and offering a hand of Longshot. He took it, pulling himself aboard.

"Jet, come on," Amaya said when she saw he was still on the ground.

"No," Jet said, shaking his head. "I'm going to stay here with the rest of the men."

"No you aren't," Pipsqueak rumbled, picking Jet up bodily and dumping him in the saddle.

"Pipsqueak?" Jet questioned, looking at the big man in confusion.

"You're a leader," Pipsqueak replied. "They need you."

Amaya knelt on Appa's head, preparing to take off, but she had to pause, closing her eyes as tears leaked down her face. If they hadn't fallen for Azula's trap, these men might not have had to give up their freedom. But they had, and they did. Amaya stood, tears tracing down her cheeks.

"You are the bravest, strongest men I have ever met," she said thickly, choking back sobs. "I will make this up to you, or I will die trying."

That said, Amaya took the driver's seat and flicked the reins. Appa rose into the clouds and they soared away from the fight, smoke rising behind them. Her mind whirled as she tried to think of a place where they could be safe. Someplace defensible, not easy to fine, fairly remote…

"I know a place where we can hide for a while!" Amaya called back to her passengers. "It's safe and fairly nearby."

"Where are we going?" Sokka called up.

"The Western Air Temple."


	7. What's a Zuko?

They flew as long as they could, but Appa eventually gave out under the weight of so many extra people and the armor, which wasn't exactly light.

"This is humiliating."

"Getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation or having to walk to the Western Air Temple?" Sokka asked glumly.

"Both."

"Where do you think the other troops are?" Teo asked cautiously, aware that it was a touchy subject. They were all torn up about how their invasion ended. It was to be their day of glory and it ended in disaster. You never saw such a miserable group of children. They walked with their shoulders hunched and their eyes fixed on the ground.

"Probably being taken to a Fire Nation prison," Haru said. "It feels like my father just got out, and now he's going back."

"I miss Pipsqueak."

"I miss not having blisters on my feet."

"Sorry," Amaya apologized, moving closer to Appa. "But all this extra weight is really rough on Appa."

"We're here!" Toph said suddenly, and everybody looked up, staring around for some great architectural achievement perched on a mountain.

"Toph, there's nothing," Sokka said disappointedly. "Did you hurt your feet in the fight?"

"She's right," Amaya said, looking around. "We are here."

"Am I missing something?" Jet asked, squinting around.

"Always," Sokka snapped.

"Cool it!" Amaya growled.

"Seriously Amaya, I don't see a temple," Katara said.

"That's because it's under us," Amaya explained. "The whole thing is hanging upside down from the bottom of this rock shelf we're standing on. The Western Temple was always considered the greatest of the four architecturally speaking, even though the Southern Temple turned out the better benders usually, and the Northern was known for its produce and honey. And at the Eastern Temple-"

"We can do the history lesson later," Katara said irritably. "I just want to find somewhere to sit down quietly and go over today."

"Right," Amaya apologized, blushing. "Sorry. Alright, all aboard the Appa Express."

They all clambered aboard Appa, Haru carrying Teo on board while Jet secured his chair. Appa jumped over the edge of the cliff and dove down.

"Whoa," Smellerbee breathed as the temple came into view. "That's amazing."

"It's beautiful," Amaya said simply. "I was born here."

"I thought you came from the Eastern Temple?" Toph said curiously.

"Actually, I've lived in all except the Northern," Amaya said as she scouted for a secure place to land. "It wasn't uncommon for novices to shift between temples depending on where their mentors were needed. I was born in the Western Temple, and was one of the ones sent to the Eastern Temple. They do that sometimes to mix up the gene pool, and it keeps us all close. But then they found out I was the Avatar and sent me to the Southern Temple. Like I said, it was known for training the best benders, even though it was for men."

"You were the only girl in the whole place?" Teo asked, blinking in surprise. Amaya nodded.

"Yep. I got used to it though, once I figured out boys didn't have cooties."

She took them down and everyone unloaded.

"This place is so different from the Northern Temple," Teo said, looking around. "It's amazing. I wonder if there are any secret rooms."

"Let's check it out!" Haru grinned, running off up a staircase. Amaya made to go after them, but Katara stopped her.

"I think we need to talk," Katara said, pulling her up short.

"Why can't I go?" Amaya asked irritably. The weight of the day was wearing on her heavily and all she wanted now was to take her mind off whatever might be happening to those they had left behind. Hopefully her imagination was worse than the real thing.

"Well, we need to make a plan," Katara pointed out. "And I thought since you're the Avatar you should be involved."

"Okay," Amaya said, allowing Katara to pull her over to a courtyard where Toph and Sokka sat. She stretched out on a bench. "So what's the new plan?"

"If you asked me, the new plan… is the old plan!" Sokka grinned. "You master the elements and face the Fire Lord before the comet."

"Great," Amaya agreed. "It's a good plan. Small problem. I don't really see where we're going to find a Firebending teacher. It's not like you can just go out and rent them."

"We could look for Jeong Jeong again," Katara suggested.

"Oh right, like we'll run into him again," Amaya snorted. "Besides, I doubt he'd teach me anyway."

"Who's…?" Toph started to ask, but she cut herself off. "Oh, forget it! I'll find out if I need to."

"Exactly," Amaya agreed. "So why worry for now? Let's just take some time and rest up, and take a tour of the Temple!" She turned and jumped off the side of the temple. She appeared again on her glider, soaring up.

"Do we go after her?" Sokka asked.

"Give her some time, then yes," Katara nodded.

They waited for an hour, talking among themselves. And when the sun began to dip Amaya zipped by again. They ran to Appa and took off after her, trailing her through the air as she flew.

"Amaya, can we talk about you learning Firebending now?" Katara asked.

"What?" Amaya called back. "Sorry, can't hear over the wind!"

"We should really talk about what we're going to do in the future!" Sokka yelled as Amaya banked towards a tower. She landed by a small fountain and they followed her down.

"Great, sure," Amaya agreed. "We can talk while I show you the giant Pai Sho table. Oh, and you'll love the all-day echo chamber."

"I think that will have to wait," Toph said grimly.

"Why?" Amaya asked. Toph pointed and Amaya's heart stopped. There at the edge of the temple, bathed in the fading light, stood someone she thought she'd never see again.

"Zuko," she breathed.

"Hey," he said nervously. "Er, Zuko here."

Sokka immediately went to a fighting stance, but Katara's eyes went immediately to Amaya, and Toph's head tilted in her direction. So Toph did know. Appa roared at Zuko and then stretched out a slimy pink tongue, licking him. Zuko grunted and wiped spit off his face.

"Look," he began. "I heard you flying around down there so I… thought I'd wait for you here. I know you must be surprised to see me-"

"Not really," Sokka snapped. "You've followed us all over the world."

"Yeah," he said slowly, eyes locked on Amaya. Clearly this wasn't going the way he had thought it would, but Amaya was barely listening. Her brain was still trying to process. Zuko… _here_. Keeping him from her thoughts had seemed to keep her from visiting him in her dreams, just as he had requested, but now here he was, in real life, seeking her out.

"About that," Zuko began hesitantly. "I wanted you to know that… I've changed, and… I'd like to join your group. Oh, and, er… I can teach Firebending… to Am- the Avatar," he finished, switching gears hastily.

"Are you stupid?" Sokka demanded. "You can't possibly think we'd trust you. You've hunted us down like animals and tried to capture Amaya. Come on Amaya, tell him he's crazy!" For the first time, Sokka turned to look at Amaya, and it wasn't the face of rage and hatred he'd expected. In all honesty, she looked like someone had just punched her in the gut, white and slightly huddled. And Katara and Toph hadn't said anything either, they were both looking to the pale girl.

"Amaya?" Katara asked softly. Amaya flinched, drawing out of her inner panic attack, and inhaled deeply.

"Give us a minute alone," she said.

"What?" Sokka demanded. "Has everyone gone mad today? Are you actually considering this?"

"Sokka!" Katara barked, turning flaming eyes on him. She gestured to Amaya's almost fearful body language and grabbed his arm, hauling him away. "You don't know the whole story."

"What else is there to know? He's the son of the enemy, he's hunted us down, he's attacked us, he's…"

Sokka's protests faded as Katara and Toph dragged him away.

Zuko and Amaya were left standing there alone. Amaya hugged herself tightly. They just stared at each other and then Zuko took a step forwards.

"Amaya…" he began. "I know that… I know that I left you, down there in the catacombs. I know that I left you alone when you were hurt and sided with Azula, and I know I don't deserve anything more than a kick in the face, but I'm here asking for another chance."

Amaya's eyes were locked silver on gold and as he watched they heated until he stepped back, fearful of how angry she was. Suddenly his head jerked to the side and he looked at her, clutching his throbbing cheek as the sound of the slap echoed around them.

"You idiot," she hissed. "How dare you? You tell me, _order_ me, to stay away, and I respected that because I care about you. I didn't even ask for a reason! And you can't even give me the same courtesy? Did it occur to you I might not want anything to do with you anymore?"

"It did," Zuko admitted. "But I had to try. I… In the catacombs…"

"Screw the catacombs!" Amaya snapped. "I don't care that you left with Azula. Well I do, but that's not why I'm mad. If I were you I would have picked family over romance too. It's just common sense, but…"

"Would you let me finish?" Zuko said sharply. Amaya raised an eyebrow and stepped back, cocking her hips and crossing her arms.

"Fine. Talk," she bade.

"When I left in the catacombs, I was trying to protect you!" Zuko explained, and he watched as her face went from furious to confused to curious. "I knew that if I went with you I could be used against you, and you against me, and we'd be no use to anyone. And if Azula found out about us then she'd use me to lure you in and… I didn't want you to have to go through that. I thought I could do more good for your cause, for the fight against the Fire Nation, if I had the power of a prince behind me. I knew I'd be miserable, but you'd be safer." He sighed. "I'm not going to say it was purely self-sacrificing, because it wasn't. I still hadn't given up on earning my father's love, even if I didn't care about the rest of it anymore. If I went back then I could have that. But the more I was there, the more I realized that even that wasn't what I wanted anymore, and I didn't have it anyway. I never felt… like I was worth anything. Not like when I'm around you."

"You presume," Amaya said shortly. "You're taking an awful lot for granted. You seem to think I'd drop everything to save you, but I don't recall ever really saying how I felt about you. I'm not dumb enough to try and deny I care about you though, but what made you so sure I'd care enough to try and come rescue you?"

"You'd do that for anyone you cared about," Zuko said matter-of-factly. "You're just that sort of person. You care deeply about everyone."

"This is pointless," Amaya snapped. "I told you I'm not mad about the catacombs. I always told myself I'd never let romance come before family, and even if it hurts, I understand and forgive your decision. What I'm mad about it how you threw me away when I visited in my dreams. Am I really worth that little to you?"

"No!" Zuko said quickly, appalled. "No, that's not why I told you to go at all!"

"Then why?" Amaya demanded. "I've gone out on a limb trusting you before. That limb fell out from under me and then you beat me over the head with it. So why should I believe you care about me?"

"I don't _think_ I may," Zuko said softly. "I _definitely_ do."

Amaya inhaled sharply, remembering their date. They both knew what that meant, both knew what it meant without it having to be stated outright. And as soon as she processed this warm lips where on hers and she was melting against Zuko. Everything came rushing back, everything she felt for him and had tried to hide behind a dam in her mind, everything he had done for her and she for him, everything they had shared, their connection. She found she couldn't stay mad because, when she placed herself in his shoes, she probably would have done the exact same thing. In fact, thinking like that, she thought she knew why he had pushed her away.

But there was one last thing she had to know before she was sure…

Amaya pulled away and laid her head on his chest. "Tell me one thing," she whispered. "Why did you push me away on the ship?"

"I thought a clean break would be better for both of us," Zuko admitted. "Easier, less painful. It hurt to know you were there but I couldn't break my prince charade and be my real self like I was around you. For a while, even I started to believe the charade. But then time passed and I couldn't feel you there anymore. I realized who I truly was behind all the masks, and that guy really needed you."

Silence for a moment, and then Amaya snorted. She leaned back, laughing her head off. "You know," she said around giggles. "I would have taken that first bit about a clean break being less painful. You didn't have to turn into a romance novel hero on me."

Zuko looked offended. "I'm baring my heart here."

Amaya sobered. "I know. And I agree. I don't think I may either." She beamed. "I definitely do too." She sighed. "I want you to join us, really I do, but the others…"

"They wouldn't take it well," Zuko filled in. She gave him an apologetic smile.

"Not at all. You stay up above tonight and I'll try to win at least most of them over. We've got Toph and Katara I'm pretty sure, and I'd imagine Haru too."

"So, general," Zuko smiled teasingly. "Who are our main enemies?"

"Sokka and Jet," Amaya said without hesitation. "Definitely."

"You know Jet?" Zuko blinked.

"Yeah. Wait, you know Jet?"

"I met him on a boat into Ba Sing Se. You?"

"I met him trying to wipe out an entire village just to get rid of a few Fire Nation soldiers."

"Yeah, he attacked when he found out I was Fire Nation."

Amaya snorted. "I'd imagine. Look, you'd better go, the others will come looking to make you haven't captured me in a while."

"Okay," Zuko said. "When should I come back?"

"I'll come get you," Amaya said. "It's safer that way. But Zuko?"

"Yeah?" he asked curiously. Amaya grinned shyly.

"I missed you."

Zuko chuckled. "I missed you too Aya. I'll see you later." He leaned down and kissed her softly. Amaya reveled for a moment before pulling away.

"See you," she said, and he turned, moving through the Air Temple cautiously. Amaya turned and followed after Toph, Katara, and Sokka. She found them in a room off the main hall, talking quietly.

"So?" Sokka demanded. "Did you give him what for?"

"No," Amaya said, shaking her head. "I said I'd be willing to let him join us."

Sokka gaped at her. "What? Are you kidding me? Did you forget all the times he tried to capture you, or how he almost burned down Kyoshi Island, or how he…"

"Or how he freed me from Zhao?" Amaya said over him. "Or how he freed Appa?"

Sokka paused, blinking. "Wait… huh?"

"While you and Katara were sick Zhao captured me," Amaya said. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry. I got free, no harm done. But it was Zuko that got me out, I didn't have a prayer until he showed up. And at Lake Laogai, he was the one who set Appa free."

"How can you possibly know that?" Sokka demanded.

"There were signs," Amaya said edgily. "He left something."

"In case anyone cares," Toph said. "When he was talking, he was completely sincere. I couldn't feel a single lie. And I think you're being kind of stupid Sokka."

"Me?" Sokka demanded. "I'm being stupid for not trusting some guy that's spent the last year trying to capture or _kill us?"_

"You were the one that was all gung-ho about Amaya learning Firebending. We can't think of a single person to do that and then a master plops into our laps and you want to turn him away because he had attitude problems in that past? Considering his messed up family and how he was raised, it's amazing he wasn't worse and he was actually able to turn over a new leaf."

"Amaya?" Katara asked, staring at her hard. "Are you sure this is safe? There's nothing _influencing_ you?"

Amaya nodded. "I give you my word, I can tell for a fact that he's really sincere. Sokka, if you really are one hundred percent against this, I'll tell him no, but I'd really hate to. Think about all Toph said."

Sokka paused, thinking hard. Finally, he sighed. "You really think this is a good idea?"

"Yeah," Amaya nodded.

"Let me sleep on it," Sokka bargained.

"Okay," Amaya agreed.

They all slept on it in fact, and it was a pleasant night's sleep. The next morning Katara was up first, and she made a thin porridge for all of them for breakfast.

"Anyone seen Toph?" Katara asked, looking around curiously. "She's not here."

"She was here last night, that's for sure," the Duke said. "I heard her snoring."

"That was her?" Jet blinked. "I figured it was Sokka!"

"Lay off, Jet," Katara snapped.

"Maybe she just went exploring," Haru theorized.

"I'm sure you're right, Haru," Katara smiled.

"Of course you are," Amaya muttered into her porridge.

"Maybe we should go look for her," Teo suggested. "I'm not really hungry, I'll go."

"Me too," Haru agreed. "I want to do some more exploring as well."

"Oh, I'll come!" the Duke grinned, hopping up. The three of them moved off into the halls while the rest continued eating their breakfast.

A rumbling sounded around the corner suddenly. Alarmed, they all looked up.

"What was that?" Smellerbee demanded, standing up.

"Stay here," Amaya ordered and ran around to see what it was, following by the siblings. They found Toph crawling across the floor, a ragged hole in the wall behind her.

"Toph!" Katara yelped. "What happened?"

"My feet got burned," Toph grumbled and Amaya inhaled sharply, praying this wasn't what she thought it was. Had Zuko just fed her lines yesterday, had he really not changed?

She and Katara both moved around to look at Toph's feet, and as one they both immediately reacted, pulling water from canteens and placing it over Toph's red, burned feet. The water glowed.

"What happened?" Katara demanded.

"I told you, my feet got burned," Toph grumbled.

"I think she meant more along the lines of how?" Sokka said tensely.

"Well, I sort of went to see Zuko last night, and…"

"You what?" Sokka yelped.

"Did he attack you?" Katara asked sharply. "Did he?"

"Well, he did and he didn't," Toph hedged as he feet were treated. "I thought he could be an asset so I went to talk. He attacked before he knew who I was."

"But he Firebended at you?" Sokka pressed.

Toph sighed. "Yeah."

Amaya bit her lip. "Maybe he just…"

"Amaya, _no,_" Katara snapped. "No. Don't you dare try and defend him, not this time."

Amaya sighed miserably. "Okay, I won't." _But there's no way you can stop me from going to talk to him later._

"Come on Toph, let's get you to the fountain," Katara said. Amaya and Sokka made a chair with their hands and Katara helped Toph into it gingerly. Sokka and Amaya walked her to the fountain and placed her in gently.

"What happened?" Jet asked worriedly.

"Zuko attacked Toph," Sokka said grimly. Jet frowned.

"What's a Zuko?"

"Long story," Katara said absently as she and Amaya stirred the water around Toph's feet, making it glow.

"Ah, that's the stuff," Toph said, sighing happily. "Now I know how you guys feel. Not being able to see with your feet stinks."

Amaya was bringing towels over to Katara when she heard it. A deep, rumbling inhale.

"Down!" she yelled, diving behind the fountain. The others didn't think, just reacted, all conditioned in battle, and dove behind whatever covering was closest. A fireball connected with the tier of the temple above them and exploded.

"What was that?" Jet roared over the commotion.

"Combustion man!" Sokka yelled back. "Assassin that blows things up with his mind!"

Jet turned and blinked at him. "Seriously?"

"Sadly, yes."

"Get Toph," Katara yelled. Amaya and Sokka shot for her, pulling her out of the fountain, but everything stopped when they heard shouting.

"Stop! Your mission's over, stop hunting the Avatar. By order of the Fire Nation, stop- argh!"

Amaya's heart froze as she saw Zuko up there, attempting to call off the assassin. He was shoved back, but threw himself back into the fight willingly.

"Whatever Azula's paying I'll double it, triple it, if you stop!" He was just thrown away again and they were forced to duck as another fireball whistled towards them and connected. Amaya raised up her head in time to see Combustion Man blow Zuko off the side of the cliff.

"No!" she yelled. "Zuko!"

"Amaya, what are you doing?" Sokka demanded as she broke cover. "Somebody, stop her!"

Longshot swiped for her, trying to grab her, but Amaya ducked under his arms and stood at the edge of the tier furiously, hands jerking through the air and forming a cyclone of air she threw at the giant. He jumped over it and inhaled. There was a momentary pause before his attack, and that was when Amaya hit on her plan. She threw up a wall of water in front of them, simply to diffuse the fire, while she ducked behind a column with Longshot, pressing close to him to keep from exposing herself.

"Longshot, listen," she said quickly. "This guy has a tattoo of an eye in the middle of his forehead. It's about this big." She held up her fingers to illustrate. "You think you can hit that from here?"

Longshot nodded confidently and she hugged him. "Exactly what I wanted to hear. Now when I cue you, fire," she said, then huddled close to the column as another fireball connected. "Get ready," she said before stepping from behind the column.

"Here I am!" she yelled. "Hit me if you can, I dare you!"

"Are you crazy?" Jet yelled.

"Amaya, get back here!" Katara ordered.

"Heh, like I'm in any danger!" Amaya yelled, just waiting. After the man attacked, he took about ten seconds to collect himself and aim, then about two more to ready the attack and fire. That gave Longshot a window of twelve seconds to aim, fire, and the arrow to get there. This had to be timed perfectly…

There.

The attack came and Amaya hurled a boulder, sending it screaming across the gap separating them.

"Now!" Amaya yelled. The two attacks connected halfway and the boulder exploded, an arrow whistling through the debris. A blunted arrow connected with the man's forehead before he could gather another attack to disintegrate it. He staggered, clutching his forehead, and the seemed to gather his wits, inhaling deeply.

"Here it comes again!" Sokka yelled. "Amaya get down!"

"He's going to take this place off the mountainside!" Toph yelled as the distinctive percussive sound of one of his attacks filled the air. But it was off, sputtering, and Amaya watched, wincing, as the fireball exploded directly in front of the man's face. Just as she had thought. He channeled his chi through that tattoo. A hard hit blocked it and prevented him from throwing his attacks away.

The smoke faded, the trembling stopped, and Amaya inhaled, relieved, as she saw Zuko pull himself back up onto what remained of the ledge. They all grouped together and watched as Zuko slowly made him way back down, over the rubble.

"Wait a second…" Jet said, squinting at Zuko. "Is that…?"

When Zuko came into the light and stood across from them, Jet's eyes flew open and he drew his hook swords.

"You!" he roared, moving to charge, but Longshot and Smellerbee held him back.

Sokka blinked. "You know the angry jerk?"

"That's Lee, he's a Firebender!" Jet snarled. "I met him in Ba Sing Se, it was fighting to reveal him that got me arrested!"

"Lee?" Sokka blinked, looking at Zuko skeptically.

Amaya winced. "Erm, Jet? Meet Fire Prince Zuko."

Jet blinked. "Wait… Fire Prince? Seriously? As in the son of the guy we're all fighting to bring down?"

"He tracked us across the world trying to kidnap Amaya and then showed up again in Ba Sing Se with Princess Azula. Long story short," Sokka summed up.

"What's he doing here?" Jet asked, calming himself, though he still glared hatefully at Zuko.

Amaya sighed. It was best to get everything out there, to not hide anything, to keep nothing in the dark. It would only make things worse.

"He's going to teach me Firebending."

"Wait, we didn't decide on this!" Sokka pointed out. "He did burn Toph's feet."

"Accidentally," Toph reminded them.

"Sorry about that," Zuko said apologetically. "You startled me and I reacted. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No problem, I'll be fine," Toph shrugged. "Plus, he just tried to save us from Combustion Man."

"That's not his name," Zuko said automatically. "He's one of Azula's favorite assassins. I'd bet she sent him."

"I think he's proven himself," Katara admitted. "I still don't love him, but he's proven himself. I'll be watching you though," she snapped.

"I'd expect nothing less," Zuko admitted.

"There's something else," Amaya said softly, looking at Zuko. He looked at her as if you say, _you sure?_

"Amaya…?" Katara asked, implying the same thing. Amaya nodded, answering them both. She moved to Zuko's side and turned to face her friend, openly wrapping her hand in Zuko's. She looked up and him and smiled and he gave her an encouraging look as the others gaped.

"Plus, we're sort of dating," Amaya declared.

Absolute silence…

Then complete chaos.

"What?"

"Are you serious?"

"Have you lost it?"

"Glad you finally got that out in the open."

Everyone turned to stare at Katara after her comment.

"You knew?" Sokka demanded.

"I figured it out," Katara admitted. She walked over and stood beside Amaya, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder. "And I'm okay with it."

"Well if we're all 'fessing up," Toph said. "I knew too."

"I figured you did," Amaya grinned. "But how?"

"Your heart rate went through the roof whenever someone mentioned him," Toph shrugged, limping over to them. "Good job Twinkle Toes. And hey prince boy, act right or next time you'll be the one crawling away."

"I don't doubt it," Zuko said, looking bemused at the amount of support they were getting.

"I'm with Toph," the Duke chirped, darting to her side. "From what I've seen, he seems okay to me. But don't hurt her again, okay?" he said, pointing at Toph firmly.

"I won't."

"We haven't really witnessed any of this bad stuff you say he's done," Haru shrugged.

"But like the Duke said, from what we've seen he seems alright," Teo added. He and Haru nodded at each other and moved over to the others. Haru stood behind Katara and placed his hands on her shoulders. Katara went beet red as Teo parked his wheelchair on Zuko's other side. It was now distinctly divided, Sokka, Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot on one side, the rest of them on the other.

"Jet, it's time to let your anger go," Smellerbee whispered. Longshot nodded. Jet clenched his fists, his face snarling, but he slowly relaxed, putting his weapons away.

"I wouldn't side with this idiot for anything," Jet mumbled, jerking his head towards Sokka. He walked over, pausing in front of Zuko while the other two joined the group.

"You got me locked up and brainwashed," Jet said. Zuko's eyebrows went up.

"Uh… sorry?"

Jet scoffed and stood on Haru's other side behind Katara. Sokka was now the only one left out. He threw up his hands.

"Oh, fine!" he grumbled, and stomped over. "But I'm watching you, Zuko."

"I expected that," Zuko said ruefully. "I assure you all, I'm on your side now. I've realized that my destiny is to help Amaya restore balance to the world. I thought it was to have my father restore my honor, but I've come to realize that no one can take away or restore your honor."

"Waxing poetic?" Amaya asked, looking up at him teasingly. Zuko shrugged. She shook her head at him and laughed. "Go get your things. I'll fix up a room for you."

"Thanks," Zuko said. He dipped down and kissed her forehead, only to be greeted by exclamations of disgust.

"Okay, what did I say?" Katara reminded Amaya. She sighed.

"You don't want to see the love," she recited.

"That's right," Katara said smugly. "Okay lover boy, shoo. We need to talk to Amaya."

"Are you sure you don't want backup?" Zuko whispered to Amaya. She snorted.

"Nope. I'm a big tough girl. I tie my own shoes and everything. Now get going."

Zuko turned and left and Amaya faced her friends. Sokka gagged.

"Okay, now I know where that lovesick look came from. So you were with him that night in Ba Sing Se when you looked like you were drunk in the morning?"

"Yeah," Amaya admitted, then snapped, "Hey, wait!"

"You did look drunk," Katara agreed.

"And I thought you people were on my side," Amaya muttered.

"We are," Toph nodded. "But that doesn't mean we can't mock you and your freaky love life for our entertainment."

"I'm pretty sure it does," Amaya frowned. Toph snorted.

"Shows what you know."


	8. In Which Pity Parties are Held

**WARNING: THIS HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED! THERE IS ONLY AN AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END!  
**

**Warning, this one's a bit short, but I cut it off to keep it from being grotesquely long. This is the first of a two-part chapter, the second half of which will be posted when I get ten reviews. Blackmail! *malicious giggles***

* * *

Amaya and Zuko stood across from each other on a wide terrace of the temple. Amaya had a stressed expression on her face and Zuko stood there looking solemn.

"I know you're nervous," he said. "But you need to remember that Firebending in and of itself isn't evil."

"Okay," Amaya breathed. "Don't fear it. I can do that. I've been getting rid of fear for the past year, I can do that, and… And apparently I can babble like an idiot." She gave him a small, self-depreciating smile. "Sorry."

"It's not a problem," Zuko said. "But just remember to respect fire. If you don't, _it will chew you up and spit you out like an angry komodo rhino!"_

Amaya yelped and recoiled, then glared. "Not. Helping!"

"I know," Zuko admitted. "But you need to be aware of what you're getting into."

"Oh trust me," Amaya said softly, remembering Katara's hands. "I'm completely aware."

Zuko looked at her crumpled, guilty face and her slumped shoulders. "You tried this before," he reasoned. "Something bad happened."

"Yeah," Amaya admitted. "Jeong Jeong warned me before hand, but I-"

"Wait, Jeong Jeong?" Zuko blinked. "As in, the deserter Jeong Jeong?"

"Yeah," Amaya nodded. "We found him just after the Fire Days Festival. He didn't want to teach me at first, but Roku made him."

"Avatar Roku?" Zuko questioned, thoroughly confused. "But… he's dead."

"Yeah, past Avatars like to randomly possess me and appear to people, it's this whole big thing," Amaya said waving her hand. "But Jeong Jeong warned me to be careful with fire from the start, but I tried to push it and… I burned Katara's hands. Badly," she admitted.

"I'm sorry that was your first experience with Firebending," Zuko said. "But at least now you understand. Now come on, show me what you've got," he challenged. "Any amount of fire you can create."

"Okay." Amaya inhaled. She steadied herself, focusing for a moment like she had at Jeong Jeong's, feeling the sun on her face, turned, and struck. A small puff of fire issued from her hand. She blinked, blushing. "Yeah, this isn't my strong suit."

"It's okay," Zuko assured her.

"Maybe a demonstration?" she suggested.

"Not a bad idea. You may want to take a few steps back."

Amaya obediently backed away, leaning against the wall of the building and watching. She'd seen Zuko's range first hand and it was pretty impressive. Zuko turned, moving through a form before turning and striking. A burst of fire issued from his fist. It was fire, but Amaya was confused.

"What was that?" Zuko demanded. Amaya sighed.

"Okay, so that wasn't just me. The details of all our fights may be a bit fuzzy, but I remember having more fire to dodge."

"There should be!" Zuko snarled. He turned, kicking and punched, but the fire was no more intense than the first attack. "Ugh!" he shouted. "Why is this happening?"

Amaya couldn't resist. Smiling slightly, she said, "Well Zuko, sometimes in life men struggle to rise to the occasion."

Zuko looked at her, bright red and gaping. Amaya covered her mouth to cover a snicker, cheeks a bit pink as well.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I spent the last few days with a bunch of guys, and before that, soldiers."

"Uh huh," Zuko said weakly. "Just… just let me fix whatever the problem is and then I'll teach you, okay?"

"Okay," Amaya shrugged. "Take your time."

Zuko did take his time, he took nearly two hours of it, raging and trying and then yelling and then punching and then trying to fix something and then yelling some more and then kicking at something and then getting even angrier.

"Okay, okay!" Amaya said soothingly as Zuko kicked at a piece of stone and then hopped around clutching his foot in pain. "Let's try this. You direct me. Maybe if you watch it instead of doing it you can see what's going on. Maybe you can pick up some flaw you aren't thinking of when you do it."

"Might as well," Zuko growled. "Can't make it worse."

Amaya frowned at him. "Getting angry isn't going to make things better."

"I know that!" Zuko snapped, then sighed, slumping. "Sorry. I just… I have no idea what's going on."

"Well then let's find out," Amaya encouraged. "So come on. How should I stand to start out?"

"Okay, take a stance like this," Zuko said, illustrating with his own body. "Stand with your feet apart and your arms raised. Right, but higher, and keep your elbows in." Amaya followed his directions and corrected her stance. "Perfect, now just turn, and kick when you reach this point," he said, illustrating with his own body. Amaya grinned, recognizing the maneuver from an Airbending move. She turned and kicked. Zuko blinked.

"Well that was good, but too _Airbender._"

Amaya frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Water and air are more graceful elements. There's more of a _flow_ to it. With fire and earth though, they're more forceful, sharper."

Amaya's frown deepened. "I don't get what you're saying."

"Okay, try this," Zuko said, demonstrating a move he knew had an Airbending counterpart. As expected, Amaya did it the Airbender way. "Okay, again, that was good, but it was too Airbender. Now, try it like this." He stepped forwards and pressed himself against her back, taking her hands in his and curling them into fists. He was surprised to feel ridged skin under his hands. He held her hands up, balancing her palms against his own. The backs of her hands were covered in small, healing cuts and tiny, raised scars.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Amaya, to his surprise, blushed and fidgeted. "Well, I sort of lost it right before the invasion. I trained for an almost solid sixty hours, didn't eat, didn't sleep, didn't drink anything. I was terrified someone I cared about was going to die and… I don't know, I just thought that if I pushed myself hard enough I could make sure nothing like that happened."

"You did this to yourself?" Zuko asked, feeling vaguely sick.

"Yeah. It looked a lot worse before, all bloody and scabbed. I guess that's what I get for punching trees and rocks."

"You… punched rocks?"

"It's a legitimate training exercise," she said defensively. "Now come on, show me what you meant."

"Right," Zuko said, recurling her hands and nudging her legs into a stance with his own. He moved her arms forcefully, thrusting her fists through the air. "See?"

"That feels… different," Amaya said. She rotated in his grip so that they were chest to chest. She blushed and looked up at him. "Oh, er…"

Zuko smirked, leaning down and capturing her lips. Amaya willingly pressed back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her fingers combed through his hair. He tugged gently at her braid and Amaya tilted her head back. Zuko's mouth slipped down along her chin to her neck. He sucked gently and Amaya blushed bright red, but didn't stop him.

"Hey, what are you and jerk boy up to-? Oh, oh _gross!_ Ew, _ew_, oh, why would you _do_ that?"

Amaya groaned as Zuko pulled away, glaring at Sokka.

"Oh, I thought you were _training_, not _that_," he raged, covering his eyes.

"Sokka, go away before Zuko kills you," Amaya muttered, cheeks even redder.

"Gladly, oh, I think I'm scarred for _life_…"

Sokka stumbled away and Amaya looked up and Zuko, blushing brightly.

"Well, that was delightfully awkward," she chirped. "So, I'm too Airbender, I'll work on that. Now back to your problem."

They practiced until dinner time, when Amaya went to fire and Zuko stood against a column, watching the valley. He still hadn't managed to produce any more flame. He turned and walked over to the fire.

"I have an announcement," he said. "I've lost my stuff."

Toph held up her hands. "Hey, I didn't touch your stuff."

"No, I mean… I mean my Firebending is weak for some reason."

Jet snorted. "Maybe you just aren't as good as you think you are." Amaya leaned over and smacked his shoulder. "Hey!"

"I think it may be because I changed sides," Zuko theorized.

"That's crazy," Katara protested, but Amaya shook her head.

"Actually, no it's not," she reasoned. "No offense Zuko, but when we used to fight you would be all snarly and angry. It was sort of funny," she mumbled, and Zuko looked offended. "You were running on sheer anger. It seems to me like you just don't have that much in you anymore."

"Hey, so we just have to get Zuko mad? Easy!" Sokka grinned and Amaya rolled her eyes as Sokka began poking Zuko with a stick and giggling. Zuko bore it for a moment before turning and roaring.

"Okay, enough! Look Aya, even if you're right, I don't want to do that anymore."

"I think you should just draw your Firebending from a different source," Toph shrugged. "I'd recommend the original source."

"So… Zuko jumps in a volcano, all our problems are solved?"

"I'll help you search for one," Jet said, moving to stand, but Smellerbee and Longshot jerked him back down.

"No, Zuko needs to go back to the original source of Firebending," Toph said, rolling her eyes.

"So is that jumping into a volcano?"

"I dunno. The original Earthbenders were badgermoles. One day when I was little I ran away and hid in a cave. That's where I met them. They were blind, like me, so we understood each other. I was able to learn Earthbending not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses. For them, it wasn't just about fighting, it was their way of interacting with the world."

"Go Toph," Amaya whistled. "I just learned from the monks, but the original Airbenders were the sky bison. Hey Sifu Appa!" she called. "Maybe you can give me a lesson one day, eh?" Appa groaned.

"You got all that fancy twirling from that?" Smellerbee said, looking at Appa skeptically.

"That doesn't help me," Zuko said, shaking his head. "The original Firebenders were the dragons, and they aren't around anymore."

"What?" Amaya blinked. "But… Roku had a dragon, and there were a bunch back before."

"Well they're gone, okay!" Zuko roared and Amaya recoiled, arching her eyebrow.

"Hey, don't yell at her, she doesn't know everything!" Sokka snapped.

"Sorry," Zuko apologized. "I just… really don't like this. There might be a way though," he mused. "The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors."

"Okay, I know they weren't around in my day," Amaya said, then paused and shuddered. "Agni I sound old."

"You're not quite that old," Zuko said, giving her an amused half-smile. "They died off thousands of years ago, but the ruins of their old civilization aren't too far from here. Maybe if we poked around we could find something that would help."

"The monks had a saying," Amaya recalled. "Sometimes the shadows of the past can be felt by the present."

"So, you're hoping to absorb some magical Sun Warrior energy just by standing where they stood?" Sokka blinked.

"Pretty much, "Zuko shrugged helplessly, sitting down beside Amaya. "Because either I fix this or you have to find a new teacher." Amaya winced.

"I'd prefer not to if it's all the same to you, so we'll go check it out in the morning."

"Try not to get distracted you two," Katara said teasingly. Amaya cocked her head curiously.

"Why would we…" She saw Katara making a kissy face and blushed. "Oh." She straightened up and said loftily. "I'd like to think I have more self-control than that."

"I don't know about Zuko though," Toph grinned, joining in. "Didn't we just get done talking about how he used to be a big ball of uncontrolled angst?"

"Excuse me?" Zuko said, offended. "I was not!"

"Even I'm not going to defend you on that one," Amaya grinned. "You were sort of a jerk. I like you much better now," she grinned. Zuko leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"You didn't seem to have a problem with me at the North Pole."

"Are they doing that whole 'whispering sweet nothings' crap couples do?" Toph demanded. "Because if they are, I'm out."

"Me too!"

"Me three!"

"Longshot, Smellerbee, come on."

"The Duke, your young eyes shouldn't see this."

Amaya blinked in surprise as everyone suddenly scattered. "Well boy, can _we_ clear a room."

* * *

"Wow."

Okay, the gaping was justified. The ruins were, well, ruins, but they were impressive nonetheless. The stones of the buildings were smooth and perfectly positioned even without Earthbending. Structures soared into the sky in a distinctly outdated way.

Appa landed in a courtyard that might once have been a grand garden, but now it was overgrown and filled with weeds and vines. The couple dismounted and looked around, before turning down a side passage.

"Even those these buildings are old, there's something familiar about them," Zuko mused. "I can tell the Fire Sage's temples are somehow descended from these."

"Feh, Fire Sages," Amaya grumbled. Zuko looked at her questioningly. "The last Fire Sages I met were trying to turn me over to Ozai. You remember. Heh, sorry about throwing you down the stairs, by the way."

"Not a problem," Zuko said with a small smile.

"Okay," Amaya recapped. "So, we got some architectural knowledge, but let's try and find something a bit more martial. The past can tell us lost of thi-INGS!" Amaya yelped as a wire caught her foot and tripped her. The ground in front of her lowered, spikes protruding from the stone as she fell towards it. She exhaled sharply, flipping over the pit and landing on the other side in a crouch, panting. In a moment Zuko was beside her, looking worried.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Amaya looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I think the past is trying to kill me."

Zuko chuckled and pulled her upright, examining the trap. "This must have been set centuries before, but it still works."

"There's probably more," Amaya mused worriedly. "We should be careful."

"This is good though," Zuko said. "People don't make traps unless they have something to protect."

"True," Amaya admitted. "Here, that big building looks impressive, maybe we should start there."

"Good a place as any," Zuko shrugged and they took off, walking down the corridors and up the stairs to the largest building in the ruined city.

"This looks like it was once some place of worship," Amaya mused, examining carvings they passed detailing people on their knees before fire. She looked up at the wall in front of them and cocked her head, confused. "Well, that looks promising. Not at all easy to interpret, but promising. I thought the dragons and the Sun Warriors were copacetic?"

"They have a funny way of showing it."

The carving detailed two dragons uncoiling from the clouds on either side of a person in an elaborate headdress. The two dragons were breathing fire that swirled around the man like a tornado of flame. He had his hands raised, his eyes wide, and his mouth gaping. It was an altogether ominous picture.

Amaya turned slowly and followed as Zuko walked along an arched bridge. "Zuko, something happened while I was on ice, and you aren't telling me. What happened to the dragons?"

Zuko's shoulders went tense ahead of her and he sighed. "My great-grandfather Sozin happened. He was the one that started the tradition of killing dragons for glory. They were the ultimate Firebenders and if you could conquer one, your own bending would become legendary. The last dragon was conquered before I was born, by my uncle."

Amaya blinked in surprise as Zuko traced the head of a crumbling dragon statue. "Iroh? But I thought he was… oh, how to put this? Sort of the mystic old sage type."

Zuko snorted. "He is. But he had a complicated past. Family tradition I guess."

"Zuko?" Amaya asked, finally feeling that maybe the moment was right to ask something that had been weighing on her mind since she first met him. "What's the story behind your scar?"

"Why do you want to know?" he asked dully. Amaya moved in front of him, placing her hands on his chest.

"Because I want to know you and from what I've seen you used to place a lot of importance on it. For a while you didn't even want me to touch it."

"Sit down," Zuko sighed, gesturing to a nearby bench that was still reasonably sturdy. "It's not a pretty story, Aya. Are you sure you want to know?"

"Only if you want to tell me," Amaya said truthfully. She didn't want to push him into something he wasn't ready for, and while she was curious, she could respect his boundaries.

"Well, it happened when I was thirteen. I wanted to go into the War Council my father was having. I thought that since one day I was going to take his place that I should learn how to rule. The guards didn't want to let me in, but Iroh took me inside. He told me to stay quiet and be wary of the generals, and I should have listened, but I didn't. I couldn't help myself. One of the generals had a plan. He wanted to sacrifice an entire garrison of new recruits as a distraction. I spoke out. The generals and my father were furious. Father told me that I was disrespectful, that there was only one way to handle this."

"Agni Kai," Amaya recalled, remembering the original purpose of the duel for settling disputes among benders.

"I didn't understand," Zuko admitted, running a hand through his hair and burying his face in his hands. "I thought I was supposed to fight the general. He was old, he had a war injury, he was starting to go deaf. I thought I could beat him. But when I got to the Agni Kai arena, it wasn't the general. It was my father."

Amaya inhaled sharply. She knew who had given him the mark, but she had never known why. For a father to do that to their own son?

"I begged him not to go through with this," Zuko continued, and the words seemed to be spilling out faster than he could stop them now. "I pleaded and apologized, I got on my knees in front of him. He said that I 'had to learn respect, and suffering would be my teacher.' Then he burned me. He banished me after that and said I could return and have my honor restored if I captured you. Iroh came with me, he felt sorry for me. Everyone knew the condition was just a formality, no one had seen the Avatar in over a century, but..." He gestured to her. "You appeared."

Amaya wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying her face in his chest as a few tears slipped down her cheeks. Zuko's hand stroked her back absently. "I'm so sorry," she apologized.

"It's not like it's your fault," Zuko shrugged. "Actually… I feel better now that you know the whole truth."

"I feel like I should tell you something now," Amaya admitted, and immediately hit on a subject.

"You don't have to," Zuko assured her. "I'm not looking for repayment."

"I want to tell you the reason I was gone for so long," Amaya sighed. "It can be summed up pretty easily: I was a coward. But there's more to it than that. Up until I was fifteen, I didn't know I was the Avatar. The monks kept it hidden from me. I had a pretty happy life, living with Monk Gyatso, my mentor, and my friend Aang, and the other benders. But one day Gyatso was called to a meeting of the highest-ranking monks. They all looked so somber that I followed after. I knew by that point who I was, but I didn't really know what it meant yet. I followed Gyatso and spied on the meeting. They thought I was too attached to Gyatso, and he to me, and that I should go back to the Eastern Temple to complete my training with the other women. I already didn't like them, they were sour old bats with no sense of humor and no personality. But now they wanted to take away everything I knew and everyone I loved!" she raged. She took a moment to calm down and continued.

"I was scared, I panicked. I left a note from Gyatso to tell him I knew and I was leaving. Then I got on Appa and flew out into the rain. I didn't think much of it, it rained a lot on the mountain. But when I got out over the ocean it was horrible, the rain was hitting me in the face, there was lighting, and I could barely see to find someplace to land. Appa was struck by the lightning and he went down into the water. The last thing I remember was water swirling around me, and then I was waking up and Sokka was poking me in the head and saying I was a Fire Nation spy. It's funny, I thought it had only been a few days," Amaya chuckled. "Maybe a week. Imagine my surprise to find I was suddenly a hundred and fifteen and supposed to stop a war."

"I can imagine," Zuko breathed. "Wow. But the monks, didn't you get a say?"

Amaya snorted. "Not a chance. In the temple the monks were in charge, you did what they said or you were punished. Well, most monks, Kyro in particular. Not so much Gyatso. It was after I left that the Fire Nation slaughtered my people. For the longest time I couldn't help feeling that if I had stayed behind I could have done something, but… come on, me versus and army?"

"They wouldn't have stood a chance," Zuko quipped. Amaya giggled.

"Thanks Zuko. For telling me, and letting me have a little pity party."

"It's okay," Zuko assured her. "If anyone understands what it's like to have a complicated past it's me."

Amaya grinned. "Aren't we a depressing pair? Come on, let's keep looking. There's got to be more here we can learn from."

They rose, clasping hands as they walked along, looking for more information.

* * *

**Okay, apparently some people are having trouble getting that this is ZukoOC even though it says so in the summary. Yes, Katara and Zuko are listed as the characters, mainly because aside from Amaya they're the two most important characters. NO this is NOT ZUTARA.**


	9. In Which the Masters Cometh

"Because if big gold doors don't say 'something important is behind me' I don't know what does," Amaya grinned, walking over to the door. It was round, complicated circular patterns etched into the gold and split in the middle. The frame was filled with elaborate carvings, a sunstone set above the door.

She tugged at it, but immediately could feel it was no use. There was a heavy lock in place, nothing she could hope to break from outside.

"Look at this," Zuko called, crouching. "It's a celestial calendar, like what the Fire Sages have in their temples. I bet that door opens when the sun hits the sunstone at the exact right angle on the solstice."

"Monkey feathers," Amaya swore. "The solstice? Why is it always the solstice? Why can't it just be Tuesdays and Thursdays or something?"

"Maybe we can speed time up," Zuko smiled, drawing one of his swords and angling it, catching the light and reflecting it towards the sunstone. It went a bit redder, but no door opening. "Come on, come on. Ah, got it!" The sunstone flared brightly and the door ground open loudly. Amaya and Zuko stood in the doorway, looking inside.

"Well," Amaya beamed. "I don't care what Sokka says, you're pretty smart." Zuko smiled as they stepped inside and Amaya looked up at the statues ringing the circular room. They moved through various forms, but always with the same tooth-baring snarl on their face.

"Well that's just really not attractive," Amaya snorted as she moved in front of the statue. Curiously, she went up on one leg and held her arms out. She felt herself sink a little bit and jumped back, looking down in surprise. The stone she had been standing on slid back into place level with the ground. Amaya looked closely and saw a ring of similar stones, one in front of each statue. It clicked into place and she immediately ran to Zuko, tugging no his arm.

"Dance with me," she ordered. "Come on, over here."

"What, why?" Zuko asked, confused. "I mean, I'm not opposed, but this isn't really the time."

"No, no, do the moves of the statues," Amaya said, pointing. "Look, see how they're the same on both sides? I bet this is some kind of Firebending form."

"Okay," Zuko agreed, taking his place in front of a statue. He took a beginning stance and looked down in surprise as the stone under him sank a little bit. Amaya was definitely on to something.

They mirrored each other as they made their way around the room, following the statues guides and working in a circle, stones sinking under their feet as they moved. They hit the final pose and something behind them rumbled. Both of them whirled to see a pedestal rising out of the ground, a huge glowing stone on top with carvings etched into it.

"I think it's citrine," Amaya mused. Zuko just looked at her.

"How do you know all this?"

"I spent most of my free time reading," Amaya shrugged. "I read pretty much everything, and fast. I just don't like reading philosophy books."

"I thought you were a monk."

"Not technically. I'm a master Airbender but not a monk. Besides, if you spent all day learning philosophy would you want to read about it in your spare time?"

"True. So, what should we do with it?" Zuko asked, reaching out for it.

"No!" Amaya protested. "Don't you remember the spikes? I'm very leery of giant glowing gems on pedestals. It just sort of screams trap to me."

"What could happen?" Zuko reasoned and picked it up. Green shot into the air, plastering him and the egg to the grate overhead. Amaya jumped back onto the head of one of the statues to avoid the rising tide of goo.

"I can't move, it's like glue!" Zuko called from above as he strained to get free. Amaya held her glider high and jumped, slipping her legs through the grate above and clinging to the bars like some kind of frightened cat. She tried to pull her hand away, but it was glued tightly.

"I can't move!" she said fearfully. "What do we do?"

"Why are you asking me?! I'm just as stuck as you!"

The goo pressed against their backs and rose up around their cheeks. Amaya took a deep breath, already anticipating drowning, but suddenly the viscous liquid stopped rising and they were left with just their faces uncovered.

"Well at least we have air," Amaya breathed, exhaling in relief. "So what now?"

"Maybe if we just stay calm…"

"And what do we do in the meantime?"

"Contemplate our place in the universe?" Zuko suggested.

"I've tried it, not nearly as relaxing as you might think."

It was already dark, the stars shining overhead, when Amaya got fed up with the awkward silence. Her legs and arms were cramping and the glider was wedged uncomfortably against her stomach, stabbing her in the chest.

"Okay, this does not work for me," she sighed, then roared "HELP!" at the top of her lungs.

"Who are you yelling at?" Zuko demanded. "The Sun Warriors have been extinct for thousands of years!"

"Who's there?"

A man in a large headdress, with his face covered in paint, stepped forwards. Amaya shot Zuko a superior look.

"You were saying there, Mr. Expert?"

"Shut up."

They were hauled out and anteaters started licking the green goop away, which was awkward and sort of sticky, to say the least. They were surrounded by at least thirty, probably closer to forty, men and women dressed in traditional clothing with painted faces.

"For trying to steal our sunstone, you must be severely punished!" the chieftain (presumably the guy with the big hat) said angrily.

"We didn't come to take your sunstone," Zuko protested.

"Lies!" hissed the man clutching the recovered sunstone like it was his firstborn son. "You are obviously thieves come to steal Sun Warrior treasure."

"Look," Amaya said soothingly. "I don't usually play this card, but I'm the Avatar."

Usually this got a grand response, but the people seemed unfazed, other than mild surprise.

"Okay, you're up," Amaya whispered to Zuko. He stood up and faced the people.

"My name is Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. Or at least I was. I know my people have distorted the ways of Firebending to fuel it with rage and hate. We came here to find the original way, the true way of Firebending. We never imagined the Sun Warriors were still secretly alive. I'm truly humbled to be in your presence."

"What he said," Amaya agreed nervously. Zuko was free, but she was still stuck in gunk, and not anxious to die covered in green sludge.

The chieftain looked around at his people before speaking. "If you wish to learn then you will face the masters, Ran and Sha."

"There are two of them?" Amaya asked as she was finally licked clean. She stood, swatting away an anteater that kept licking her hem.

"The masters will examine you," the chief said intensely, getting in their faces. "They will peer into your hearts and minds, judging your motivations, your intentions, and your heritage," he said pointedly to Zuko, who immediately looked nervous. "If you are judged worthy, they will teach you. If you are found wanting, they will destroy you on the spot."

"But no pressure," Amaya squeaked.

They were lead up to a temple where a huge fire blazed in a hearth shaped like a tongue of flame flickered merrily. The other Sun Warriors spread out and knelt in front of the fire. Zuko and Amaya stood awkwardly in front of the fire with the chief.

"This is the eternal flame. You must bring a piece to the masters. It is the first fire, given to humans by the dragons. We have kept it going for centuries," the chief explained grandly.

"I don't believe it," Zuko whispered in awe.

"You will take a piece to the masters to prove your commitment to learning the sacred art of Firebending."

"Erm, Mr. Sun Chief?" Amaya asked nervously. "Firebending isn't really my thing, could Zuko carry my fire for me?"

"No."

"Okay," Amaya said quickly.

The chief pulled a piece of fire from the flame, and split it in two. "This ritual illustrates the philosophy of Sun Warrior Firebending. You must maintain a constant heat. Too little, and the flame will go out. Too much, and you will lose control."

The Sun Chief stretched out his hands and proffered the two flames. Zuko took his easily, but Amaya was hesitant.

"Sorry," she apologized to the chief. "I'm just nervous." Slowly, she stretched out her hands, cupping the flame. It tickled a bit, the flames dancing out, but it wasn't hot, wasn't painful. There was a pulsing quality to the fire that she could feel now that she held it herself. "It's… like it has its own heartbeat."

Zuko watched as Amaya examined the flame curiously, her head cocked and her mouth slightly open, a small half-smile tugging at her lips. Her eyes sparkled interestedly as she watched the fire dance in her hands. She really was an amazing girl. And somehow, he had managed to catch her attention.

"Fire is not destruction, but life," the Sun Chief coached. "You will take the fire up there. The cave of the masters is under that rock." He pointed to a green hill in the distance, two jagged spikes of rock protruding from the top. Zuko and Amaya turned and took off towards the rock.

Zuko walked easily, but Amaya struggled to keep her focus on the flame in her hand. She didn't want it to get to big, but at the same time, if it was too small, the flame would go out. That was what the Chief had said. That steady heat was hard to maintain while making her way over the rough terrain.

"Come on," Zuko called from nearly a full twenty five feet ahead of her.

"Sorry," she apologized as she pulled herself over a rocky outcropping. "I just don't want my flame to go out."

"If it goes out, it will be because you're too timid," Zuko said confidently. Amaya's eyes flashed to him in a glare and her fire suddenly jumped in height before she hastily tamped it down. "You have to get control over your emotions, Aya," Zuko coached.

"Yeah, that's never been my strong suit."

"Oh trust me, I know. I've been hit by you when you're annoyed," Zuko said, rubbing his shoulder and recalling the pain of her knuckles.

"Okay," Amaya said slowly. "Give it a little more?" she asked nervously, and Zuko nodded encouragingly. "Okay," she repeated, before exhaling softly. The fire jumped a bit higher and flickered dangerously with her nerves, but Amaya quickly calmed herself down and kept the flame high.

"See?" Zuko said. "It's not so scary, is it?"

"No," Amaya admitted as they stepped onto the rocky plateau between the two rock outcroppings. The Sun Warriors waited for them, some ringed around the carved stone dais, others stationed besides instruments. The Sun Chief and the egg-clutcher from before stood in the center, waiting for them. Behind them rose a steep staircase that split at the top into a bridge connecting the two rocks. Caves rested on either side of the bridge, presumably the homes of the masters.

"You will face the master's judgment," the Chief said, approaching them. He turned to Zuko first. "Your family is directly responsible for the decline of the dragons. They might not be so happy to see you."

"I know I wouldn't be," hissed the egg-clutcher.

"Hey," Amaya protested. "You aren't your ancestors, their deeds don't define who you are. The decline of the dragons is Sozin's fault, not Zuko's. So lay off, 'kay?" she finished.

"They may not be pleased to see you either, little girl," the Chief said, narrowing his eyes at her. "You abandoned the world for a hundred years, leaving the Fire Nation free reign. The decline of the dragons is your fault as well."

"I didn't _mean_ to seal myself in an iceberg," Amaya mumbled.

The Chief stuck his staff in the ground and pulled two pieces of fire from their flames. He passed it to the two men behind him, who took it to those ringing the whole area. They swirling it around, forming flaming circles between their hands, before passing it to the next in the line.

"Zuko, we don't have to do this," Amaya pointed out, put off by the air of ceremony this all hand. "We've already learned more than we hoped."

"No," Zuko refused. "We should see this through and meet these masters."

"But what is they judge us and attack us?"

Zuko pulled out his blade subtly. "We're the Fire Prince and the Avatar. I think we can take two old masters."

"Okay," Amaya breathed.

"Bring them out!" Zuko called.

"Chanters!"

The men at the drums began pounding away, crying ancient chants to the heavens. Zuko and Amaya moved towards the staircase. The Chief and his flanking men moved to the side, allowing them to pass. They began hiking up the staircase, keeping their flames shielded from the growing wind. It took a while to get to the top but it seemed like it happened. In the blink of an eye they were at the top.

"Those who wish to meet the masters Ran and Sha will now present their fire!" called a voice. Amaya and Zuko took a deep breath, eyes wishing each other luck, before they went back to back and each faced a different cave.

"Sound the call!" the Chief yelled. A long, loud horn blast sounded, sending nesting birds into the air with a cry. The bridge rumbled beneath their feet as a loud crash echoed form inside both caves. Amaya stomped her foot, seeing with Earthbending as Toph had taught her. Her mental picture had her eyes flying wide and her hands shaking. No way… Hadn't Zuko said they were all dead?

"We can't take them," Amaya breathed. "Zuko, dragons…"

"What?" Zuko demanded, turning to her. His eyes widened as he realized the sudden movement and loss of concentration made his fire go out. "Oh no."

She knew what was coming, had anticipated it, but it was still the shock of her life when a red dragon burst from the cave behind Zuko and began circling. Her eyes followed him, not even noticing that her own shock made her fire go out. A blue dragon emerged from the cave across from her and the two circling, twining around each other, dipping and rising over the bridge as they circled. Amaya watched in awe as the giant, sinewy bodies smoothed through the air and for a moment thought of Smellerbee's comment the night before about Airbending coming from sky bison. It suddenly seemed much more likely that it came from these creatures instead.

Her eyes followed their movement and she frowned as she discovered a pattern. It was familiar, almost like she'd seen it before. It was graceful, like they were… dancing!

"Zuko, I think they want us to dance!" she realized. Zuko turned to her.

"What about this situation makes you think they want us to dance?" he demanded.

"I think they want us to do something," Amaya said. "Let's just try it. It was called the Dancing Dragon after all."

"Okay," Zuko agreed. "But if we get eaten, I'm blaming you."

Amaya snorted as they both took their positions. They met eyes and nodded and began moving through the form from memory, moving through the positions easily. The red dragon followed Zuko's progress, dipping and twisting with him, and the blue dragon moved with Amaya. She was beaming, she was right!

The finished the form, ending in the last position and the dragons paused, hovering on either side of the staircase for a moment before landing with a thud, claws gouging into the rock to hold them in place. Zuko met the eyes of the blue dragon, Amaya the red. They both screamed as the dragon's opened their mouths and fire poured from their lips. Amaya threw up her arms, as if that would help, but when nothing burned her she lowered them, staring in awe.

Fire swirled around her, but it was fire that she'd never seen before. It wasn't just red, orange, and yellow. It was green, purple, blue, colors she'd never seen and didn't have names for. Visions danced in the flame in front of her eyes, visions of dragons and their lives, of fire and how it helped humans, how it flowed from them and how it kept everything alive. It wasn't just _flame_, it was _energy._ It was _life._ She saw things with emotions rooted so deeply in them that she felt them keenly, emotions she'd never imagined feeling before. There was an instinctive quality to it all, like there was nothing before them but reality, no interpretation, no meddling by interested hands, no deceit, just plain, raw fact bared in front of their eyes, a simple truth that many had searched for and not found, but that these two creatures new innately.

The fire vanished and Amaya saw the world around them again. It suddenly seemed drab and boring, edges dulled and blurred in comparison to the clarity of what she had just seen. Colors seemed muted, no longer brilliant, almost dusted over.

"That was beautiful," Amaya whispered as they made their descent.

"I know," Zuko replied softly. "I never imagined…"

"Neither did I."

"Their fire was so beautiful, there were so many colors."

"It was like… like Firebending harmony," Amaya mused.

"Yes," the Chief agreed as they stepped back onto the ground. "They judged you and deemed you worthy, giving you visions of the truth of Firebending."

"I can't believe there are still dragons," Zuko said, still just as stunned as Amaya was. "My uncle Iroh said he faced the last one and killed it."

"I guess he lied," Amaya said, wondering why.

"Actually," the chief said, sounding mildly amused. "It wasn't a total lie. Iroh was the last outsider to face Ran and Sha. They deemed him worthy and gave him the secret as well."

"So he was protecting the dragons," Zuko realized. "He was preventing the hunting from continuing."

"I understand now," Amaya admitted. "Fire isn't destruction, its life. When I hurt Katara, after that I was terrified the same thing would happen again, but now I see it's all a matter of how you use it."

"It's like the sun, like a sun inside you," Zuko continued. "Do you guys realize this?" he demanded excitedly.

"Well our civilization is called the Sun Warriors, so yeah," the Chief said, still sounding amused.

"That's why my Firebending was so weak before," Zuko realized. "For so long my purpose, my drive, was catching you," he said to Amaya. "When I joined you, I lost sight of my inner fire. But now… now I have a new drive. Amaya, I _will_ help you defeat my father and return balance to the world."

He turned and stepped around the chief, moving through a form, and this time fire poured from his fist, just as hot as it had always been, if not more so. Amaya stepped, forwards, grinning, and copied him. Fire spewed from her fist. She watched in awe as it flickered and dissipated around her, tongues of flame slipping free and dancing in the air for a moment before fading.

"Now that you have learned our secrets and now of our tribe," the chief thundered suddenly, "we have no choice to imprison you here forever."

Amaya turned to him, gaping. "Seriously? Come on!"

"Just kidding," the Chief laughed before going stern again. "But seriously, _don't tell anyone."_

"We won't," Amaya assured him. "And, er, sorry about accidentally trying to steal your sunstone."

"Not a problem," the Chief said. "Just don't do it again!"

"We'll try and restrain ourselves," Amaya grinned.

They left, the Sun Warriors waving them off with considerably friendlier faces than when they had first seen them. Amaya sat in the saddle with Zuko and let Appa steer back to the temple. They were both cuddled up, talking about everything they had seen as the sun dipped down.

"Look," Zuko said suddenly, pulling away and pointing to the sun as the last little bit rested on the horizon, blazing yellow, the rest of the sky around it pink and orange and purple. "The sunset."

He leaned against the edge of the saddle and watched avidly as the sun dipped lower still, completely obscured. The sunset was pretty, but Amaya stared at him. The colors of the sky painted across his face, softening his features and making him look less intense than he usually did.

Zuko felt eyes on him and turned to see Amaya looking at him with that same awed expression she had worn at the North Pole. She was watching him, her hair down for once and pooling around her shoulders, catching the last of the light and glinting with red and gold that were usually hidden in the brown. She seemed to glow ethereally. Her silver eyes watched him tenderly and Zuko felt more loved than he could ever remember feeling. She stretched gracefully and Zuko hit on the best word he could think of to describe her.

Graceful. Everything Amaya did, everything about her was graceful. From the way her hair danced around her face, to her movements, both fighting and going about her day, to the way she talked. Everything had a musical, flowing elegance to it. Her motions remained graceful no matter what she did, when she started a fire, when she trained, when she walked, when she comforted a friend. It was delicately beautiful, _she_ was beautiful.

"What?" he asked self consciously.

Amaya remained silent for a moment, just staring. Zuko may not come from the best home, he may have once been her enemy, but he had triumphed over that and come out of the tunnel just as strong as he had gone in. That, to her, was one of the most admirable things she had ever seen. He was a man who had taken everything that life had thrown at him and fought intensely.

That was the word to describe Zuko, the best word she could think of. Intense. From his golden stare to his fighting, to even the way he pursued things, he did intently. There was a passion and drive in him that nothing could quell, something Amaya loved about him. Her heart seemed to swell as she stared at him, and before she even realized it, the words they had carefully avoided for fear of their repercussions had slipped past her lips.

"I love you."

Zuko's eyes widened and so did Amaya's. He could tell she hadn't meant to say it, but by the look in her eye realized that she neither regretted nor revoked it. Her words were true, intended or not. It was understood that they loved each other, something they had affirmed with their round-about 'I definitely do,' but stating it outright was something neither of them had been comfortable with. Up until now there had been the division of his family and her friends, but he was now free of his family and her friends had given their approval. Nothing held them back now.

"I love you too," Zuko replied and she beamed at him, the corners of her eyes crinkling happily as she crawled across the saddle towards him. She curled up against his side, sighing as she wrapped her hands around his waist and rested her head on his chest. Zuko draped an arm around her shoulders, absently toying with her long hair. They were both exhausted by the day and neither really felt like talking now. Everything seemed out in the open now, nothing left to be said.

"Today was the best day ever," Amaya breathed before she fell asleep against his chest. Zuko chuckled at the childish innocence she still possessed despite the fact that she was fighting a war. Still, he agreed.

"You're right," he said aloud and bent, kissing the top of her head. She hmmed and nuzzled closer. Zuko sat and held her, watching the sunset.


	10. In Which Zuko Is Not Allowed to Die

**WARNING: SUPER LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE FILLED WITH IMPORTANT STUFF, SO MUDDLE THROUGH IT PLEASE!  
**

**I have a confession to make. It turns out that I've actually weeded out a lot of episodes in the Fire book. Katara's accepting of Zuko because of Amaya, so there's no call for the Southern Raiders. And a lot of the episodes focus more on what different factions are doing in preparation for the war. And since this story is meant to focus on Amaya, it's sort of impractical to put them in just for some guys know what happens and I doubt you want to read it anymore than I want to write it.  
**

**So, to recap, Boiling Rock happened, Suki and Hakoda are free, Azula's cracking up, and Zuko helped Katara work out her mommy issues, albeit in a less 'I hate you but I'll let you help me' way. I may still do something for those episodes though, but ti will probably be posted in Amaya's Snippets instead of the main story.  
**

**However, that doesn't mean this story will be super short! It just means that I have more stuff to come up with what happens _after_ the war, how everyone ends up, things like that, which I actually think might be more interesting. I have much planned for our couples. *evil laugh* Oh yes, much planned. Eh heh heh. Time to break out my flying monkeys!**

**Also, big gigantic humungous thanks to for the pic she drew of Amaya! It's her profile picture for the moment but I don't know how much longer it'll be that way, so look while you can, or review/PM with a request and I'll send it to you!  
**

* * *

For the first time in a while, Amaya was starting to feel like things were going in their favor. There had been a few seat-of-their-pants escapes, but Sokka had Suki, Hakoda was free and clear, Katara no longer had as much weight on her heart from her mother's death (although she was disappointed about leaving Haru behind) and they had finally found a luxurious place to stay.

Granted, it belonged to their biggest enemy, but still.

"Ready for practice?" Zuko asked, coming over to Katara, Toph, and Amaya, who were laying in the shade talking.

"Do I have a choice, slave driver?" Amaya teased.

"Not really," Zuko shrugged, giving her a small grin. Amaya sighed and rolled to her feet. They stepped out into the boiling hot sun and started striping. Amaya knew from experience that, who knew? working with fire was hot. Zuko pulled off his shirt while Amaya went down to her leggings and breast bindings. Her tunic's fabric was entirely too thick for Fire Nation weather.

"So, what now, Sifu Zuko?" Momo ran up Amaya's leg and perched on her shoulder, chattering loudly in her ear. "Or we could all learn the way of the Momo," Amaya suggested, rubbing the lemur's head before pitching him into the air. Momo spread his wings and soared over to Katara, bedding down in her hair, much to her displeasure.

"We'll just go through a few forms today," Zuko said. "It's too hot to do much."

"Agreed," Amaya sighed, fanning herself. "Well, lead on."

Zuko took a stance and Amaya mimicked him. The pair moved through forms sinuously, Amaya's Firebending having gotten exponentially better now that she wasn't terrified out of her mind by the element. They ranged all around the courtyard, Zuko sometimes forcing her to make adjustments to the forms he lead her through by leading her back against a column or a step. Amaya usually responded with a grin and an Airbending-style flip.

"Is it just me," Katara asked. "Or is it weird that we're hiding from the Fire Lord in his own house?"

"I told you," Zuko said as he sat down, training cancelled due to extreme heat. "My father hasn't come here since our family was actually happy, and that was a long time ago."

Amaya came over and flopped in his lap, reaching out like a pitiful beggar. "Water, please, spare some water sir." Zuko pushed her off gently.

"It's too hot for that."

"Guys, you won't believe this!" Sokka yelled, running into the courtyard.

"Sokka, you were shocked to find out Katara and Haru were together," Amaya snorted. "I _severely_ doubt I won't believe it."

"There's a play about us!"

"I don't believe it."

Sokka unfurled the poster in his hand with a flourish, containing pictures of all of them and a small blurb about the plot.

"We saw the poster while we were in town," Suki explained.

"How is that even possible?" Katara blinked as she and Toph walked over interestedly.

"Listen to this," Sokka said, turning the scroll around and reading aloud. "The Girl in the Iceberg is a new play by acclaimed playwright Poo On Tim. He has scoured the globe digging up information, from the icy South Pole to the palace of Ba Sing Se. His sources include singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war, and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage. Produced by the critically-acclaimed Ember Island Players."

"Urgh!" Zuko exclaimed. "My mother used to take me to see them. They butchered Love Amongst the Dragons every year."

"Not touching that," Amaya said, shaking her head. "It's just too easy."

"Sokka, don't you think it's a bit risky to attend a play about ourselves?" Katara pointed out.

"Come on, a day at the theater!" Sokka said excitedly. "It's just the kind of wacky, time-wasting nonsense I've been missing!"

"Has fighting for your life to escape prison not been enough fun for you?" Zuko asked.

"He's got a point," Toph said. "I miss our random vacations too."

"So can we go?" Sokka begged. "Please please _please?_"

"If it'll make you stop begging, I guess we could," Katara submitted.

"Yes!" Sokka cheered.

So it was decided. Everyone cleaned up and got dressed in fresh clothes. Amaya broke out her midriff-baring Fire Nation top and skirt and pants combo again and covered her arrows with fingerless gloves, a red headband, and tall boots. A cloak was thrown over her shoulders. She was suffering in the heat, but she had to protect her anonymity.

When night fell they all trooped down to the well-lit theater and paid for their tickets. Sokka insisted on grabbing onE of everything from the concession's stand, much to the owner's disgust, because he was curious about Fire Nation junk food.

Katara, as part of her agreeing to come, insisted they sit in the back so it would be harder to spot them. Suki and Sokka took the back row, cuddling up, while Katara and Toph sat in front of them. Amaya sat on the end of the aisle, Zuko next to her. They were the ones that would be most easily recognized, and might have the biggest need to run out if anything happened. Plus, as Toph had pointed out mockingly 'they had to be allowed to _cuddle._' Amaya had nearly smacked the girl for that comment, but decided it wasn't worth the beating that would go down later.

"Why are we in the nosebleed section?" Toph whined. "My feet can't see a thing!"

"Don't worry," Katara assured her. "I'll tell your feet what's happening."

The lights suddenly dimmed and everyone focused on the stage as the curtain rose. The set depicted an icy wasteland, a boat containing two people in center stage. Sokka pointed eagerly between himself, Katara, and the stage, and the siblings leaned closer in interest. It wasn't really what they expected, but then again there was such a thing as artistic license.

Katara's actress wore heavy makeup, and had brown eyes. Her face was very large-featured, big eyes, big mouth, big nose. Her hair was fixed correctly, but her clothes were completely impractical for the cold, an off-the-shoulder top with a furry collar. She waved her hands airily and sighed as she began to speak.

"Sokka, my only brother, we constantly wander these icy, South Pole seas, yet never to we find anything… fulfilling," she finished with greatly-overdone depression.

Sokka's actor in contrast was thin as a stick, with a huge, fluffy ponytail on top of his head. He had thick eyebrows and a horsy face, and again, completely inappropriate clothing.

"All I want is a full feeling in my stomach. I'm starving!" he replied.

The audience laughed, but Katara and Sokka were horribly confused. How on earth was this them?

"Oh Sokka, do you only ever have food on your mind?" Fake-Katara wailed.

"Actually, I'm trying to get it out of my mind and into my mouth. I'm starving!"

The audience laughed again, but Sokka was not amused.

"My jokes are way funnier than that!" he protested. Toph laughed.

"He's got you pegged, boomerang boy!"

Fake-Katara stood up and began preaching. "Every day the world awaits a beacon of hope, yet none appears. For all we have is hope, and we must never relinquish it, even unto our dying breath."

"Well that's just ridiculous," Katara grumbled. "I don't sound like that."

"This writer's a genius!" Toph giggled.

Amaya was restraining giggles, not because she disagreed with Katara, but because of the sheer _stupidity._

A large prop with a tattooed puppet rolled on stage, obviously the iceberg. Amaya leaned forwards interestedly, although she was also slightly scared of just what was about to appear.

"It appears to be someone frozen in the ice," Fake-Katara said. "Perhaps for a hundred years!"

"Well that's completely inaccurate," Amaya mumbled. "It took us at _least_ five hours to figure that out."

"But who?" Fake-Sokka asked. "Who is the girl in the iceberg?"

"Three guesses," Toph snorted.

"Waterbending, hyah!" Fake-Katara sliced and a person burst through a thin screen of paper on top of the 'iceberg.' Amaya gaped and recoiled.

"I was raised by monks!" she whispered in horror. "How did they get… _that_?"

"If you still have that somewhere, I wouldn't mind seeing it," Zuko whispered in her ear. Amaya went beet red.

It was… well, quite frankly it was trampy. A band of orange fabric was wrapped around her chest, exposing all of her shoulders, stomach, and arms, but also a fair bit of cleavage. While Amaya frequently exposed her stomach, she always maintained a modest neckline, and this was anything but. The actress wore high-heeled brown leather boots that came to her thighs, her yellow skirt split to the middle of her thighs and exposing them.

"I will never, _ever,_ wear anything like that," Amaya swore.

"Who are you, frozen girl?" Fake-Katara asked. Fake-Amaya giggled and bent over in a bow, exposing more of her chest. Amaya slapped a hand over Zuko's eyes and Suki did the same to Sokka.

"Amaya, were you a prostitute in a past life?" Katara teased, although she was red herself. Amaya buried her face in Zuko's shoulder, beat red.

"I'm the Avatar!" chirped Fake-Amaya "Here to spread joy and fun!"

Three men in a costume similar to a dragon's came out dressed as Appa, growling as they circled the group.

"An Airbender!" Fake-Katara fake-gasped. "My heart is so full of hope," she dropped to her knees, "it's making me… tearbend!" She clutched Fake-Amaya's leg and sobbed.

"My stomach is so empty it's making me tearbend!" Fake-Sokka said, dropping to the ground and grabbing Fake-Amaya's other leg. "I need meat."

"You were saying Katara?" Amaya said with a malicious grin.

"Shut up," Katara grumbled, slumping into her seat.

Fake-Amaya pointed dramatically off into the distance. "Is that a platter of meat?"

"Where?" Fake-Sokka demanded. Fake-Amaya giggled, sitting down and crossing her legs, making her skirt ride up.

"Did I mention I'm an incurable prankster?"

"Did I mention I already hate this?" Sokka moaned. "That was cruel, Amaya."

"I didn't do it!" Amaya snapped.

The iceberg was replaced with a ship holding Fake-Zuko and Fake-Iroh.

"Come nephew," Fake-Iroh, a fat, balding man said, proffering a platter. "Forget the Avatar and come have some cake!"

Fake-Zuko turned and snarled, "I don't have time for cake, I must capture the Avatar and regain my honor!"

"Well, I think I'll capture another slice!"

"I'm not like that!" Zuko protested. "They make me look stiff and humorless!"

"Actually, I think that actor's pretty spot on," Katara teased.

"What? How can you say that?"

"Forget the Avatar, and let's get massages!"

"_What? How can you say that?"_

It got progressively worse when Momo the 'flying rabbit monkey' was introduced and announced he loved the audience. When Fake-Sokka began training with Fake-Suki, who was actually fairly good, he proceeded to ask "Does this dress make my butt look big?"

Suki was amused. Sokka was not.

Amaya was quite frankly offended at the blonde Bumi who she was positive was on something as Fake-Sokka ran from Fake-Flopsy and Fake-Amaya fought off a fake-rock. Fake-Katara then fainted from the stress. Katara was offended by the end as well.

"Why did you have to steal that Waterbending scroll?" Fake-Sokka demanded as the Fake-Trio snuck away from pirates. Fake-Katara burst into tears.

"It just gave me so much hope!" she blubbered.

Katara had reached her breaking point, and Amaya and Zuko quickly followed.

Apparently something was lost in translation, because suddenly it was Zuko, not Zhao, that captured her, and the Blue Spirit (with an abnormally large mask) freed her. Fake-Amaya then proceeded to hop out of her prison and give the Blue Spirit a kiss before riding out on top of the mask.

"Well, that wasn't completely inaccurate," Amaya said, straining to find something positive.

Then they reached their meeting of Jet, which was an unmitigated disaster. Fake-Katara blubbered for a solid five minutes.

"Don't cry baby!" Jet said while holding her highly on a swing lowered from the rafters. "Jet with wipe out that nasty village for you!"

"Oh Jet," Fake-Katara moaned as they were raised into the air again. "You're so _bad," _she purred.

Amaya couldn't contain herself. She burst out laughing, which Katara responded to by smacking her in the shoulder.

Sokka was blubbering when they hit Yue's death. Fake-Sokka and Fake-Yue stood on a bridge.

"Yue, don't go!" Fake-Sokka pleaded. "You're the only woman who's ever taken my mind off of food!"

They kissed, and Fake-Sokka pulled away, sticking out his tongue in disgust. "Did you have pickled herring for dinner?"

"Goodbye Sokka," Fake-Yue said as she was lifted into the air on a moon. "I have important moon duties to take care of. And yes, I did have pickled herring."

"You never told me you made out with the moon," Suki teased. Sokka cut her off.

"Shh!" he hissed. "I'm trying to watch!"

Fake-Amaya then came out in a blue fish costume, stomped on some miniature boats, fell over, and the curtain lowered. The rest of the audience cheered while the group in the back just… gaped in horror. Yes. Horror _and_ disgust.

"So far, this intermission is the best part of the play," Zuko growled as they huddled out in the hallway during the intermission.

"No kidding," Amaya groaned as he lay down with his head in her lap. "I mean, I don't dress like that!"

"No comment," was Katara's reply and Amaya gave her a dirty look.

"And apparently the playwright thinks I'm an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time!" Sokka raged, biting into some form of jerky.

"I know," Suki soothed. "You tell bad jokes about plenty of other things too."

"Thank you!" Sokka said, brandishing his jerky angrily.

"Relax you guys," Katara soothed. "They're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who gives over-emotional speeches about hope all the time."

Silence.

"What?" Katara asked defensively.

"Oh yes, it's not like that at all," Amaya said sarcastically. The two girls had been digging at each other jokingly all through the play, trying to lighten the mood.

"Look friends," Toph shrugged. "The writer clearly did his research. It hurts, but what you see up there is the truth."

One that cheerful note, they all trooped into the theater for the second act. The scene opened with a backdrop of an Earth Kingdom city with a pile of boulders on the stage.

"So here we are in the Earth Kingdom," Fake-Katara said tearfully.

"I'll fly around and see if I can find an Earthbending master!" Fake-Amaya chirped. She pulled out a glider the size of a small dagger and opened it before being lifted into the air, the audience getting a peek up her skirt as she flew by. Fake-Amaya returned to the stage and said disappointedly "I flew all over and I couldn't find a single Earthbending master!"

The pile of rocks exploded and a huge, muscley guy emerged from a hole in the stage, dressed in green and yellow with a wig on to look like Toph's hair.

"You can't find an Earthbending master in the air!" the man roared. "You have to look underground! My name's Toph, rhymes with tough, and that's what I am."

"Wait a minute," Toph said slowly. "I sound like a... guy. A big, buff guy!"

"Well Toph," Katara grinned. "What you see up there is the truth. Hurts, doesn't it?"

"Are you kidding?" Toph beamed. "I wouldn't have cast it any other way!" She was leaning over the balcony with a huge grin on her face, listening intently.

"You walked into that one," Amaya said to Katara.

"So you're blind?" Fake-Amaya asked, waving a hand in front of Fake-Toph's face. He chuckled.

"I can see you doing that. I can see everything, but I don't _see_ like you do. I release a sonic wave from my mouth." Guy-Toph then turned to the other Fakes and screamed in their faces. Amaya recoiled, covering her ears and pressing against Zuko.

"Save me," she muttered. "It's scary." Zuko chuckled as the screaming stopped.

"There, I got a pretty good look at you!"

This was followed by a very strange and pointless scene were Fake-Zuko and Fake-Iroh split up because apparently Fake-Zuko's hair had passed an acceptable length. Zuko just watched in confusion as this went on.

"That's not even close to what happened!" he protested. "My hair's not even that long."Amaya leaned over, ruffling it affectionately.

"I like it much better like this than the ponytail," she grinned.

Then everyone cornered Azula in the abandoned village, but she got away by pointing out Zuko's 'honor' flying away.

"Where did she go?" Fake-Katara asked in overdramatized confusion.

Amaya and Zuko went red all through their date in Ba Sing Se. Somehow the playwright found out about it and felt the need to include it as 'star-crossed love.' The scary part was, it was abnormally accurate, right down to the sparring and then the kiss.

When Zuko and Amaya had regained their dignity (i.e. Toph and Sokka got bored with teasing them) they saw a scene with Jet staggering around drunkenly, wearing bulgy eyes, swinging hooks at everything in sight and moaning.

"Must serve Earth King! Must destroy!"

A rock fell out of nowhere and hit Jet in the head. He hid under it.

"But… Jet didn't die," Sokka frowned.

"Bad part is that's the first major event they've gotten wrong," Amaya sighed.

Next was the scene where Fake-Zuko chose between aiding Fake-Iroh or Fake-Azula.

"Chose treachery!" Fake-Iroh encouraged. "It's more fun."

Fake-Zuko went to Fake-Iroh's side, much to Fake-Azula's shock, until her shoved his uncle to the ground, screamed he hated him, and ran off with Azula, stepping over a fallen Fake-Amaya on his way out. Amaya winced and felt Zuko tense under her.

"You didn't really say that, did you?" Katara asked softly.

"I might as well have," Zuko sighed. "I never got the chance to tell uncle that I left because I was trying to protect Amaya."

Somehow the timeline got messed up, because suddenly they were back in the palace of Ba Sing Se and Fake-Azula, Fake-Ty Lee, and Fake-Mai were fighting Fake-Amaya. Fake-Azula hit her with ribbon-lightning and she fell to the ground.

"The Avatar is dead!" Fake-Azula roared to the crowd. Amaya recoiled when they applauded.

"Are you okay?" Zuko asked as she pressed closer to him.

"There's a whole nation of people who hate me," Amaya breathed. "That… celebrate my death. Just… just give me a second."

"These are nobles, they have to side with the Fire Lord or they wouldn't be nobles," Zuko reminded her. "If this were in a village theater, where people have their sons dragged off to go to war, there would be a different reaction."

Amaya exhaled and pulled back. "O-okay. I'm fine now. I'm just… going to go get some air."

"Do you want me to come?" Zuko asked concernedly.

"No, I'm fine," she assured him with a weak grin. She left the theater, ignoring Sokka's calls to get him some fire flakes and gummies.

It was the second intermission before anyone realized Amaya was gone.

"Where is she?" Katara asked.

"She went to go get me some fire gummies like ten minutes ago!" Sokka complained. "And she's still not back."

"I'll go look for her," Katara said, but Zuko stopped her.

"No, let me," he said, standing up. Katara nodded and Zuko went looking for a balcony. She said she needed some air, and the theater was stuffy even in the hallways. He found her on the third balcony he tried, sitting on the edge of the rail with one leg bent, staring out over the sea.

"Aya, are you okay?" he asked. She turned to look at him. Zuko noticed she had taken down her braid. He much preferred her hair down he decided as he walked over to her and hopped onto the rail as well.

"I'm fine," she sighed. "It's just… Up until now, everyone has been all gung-ho about defeating the Fire Lord, and I never really had to look at the flip side, and I liked it that way. It made it easier to think that I was going into this war without considering the other side. You asked me what I'm going to do when I finally meet your father, if not something violent. The answer is that I don't know. If we didn't kill him, we'd have to contain him, and I can't think of any prison he couldn't escape with some Firebending. It's not like Earthbending and Waterbending, you can't deprive a Firebender of their element, just like you can't with Airbenders. So, what? The only option I've been able to think of is killing him, but… I don't think I can," she said, curling into a ball. "Seeing how far we've come, and how little we have left to go, it reminds me that I don't have a long time to come up with an answer to this. I don't know, maybe I'm just being over-emotional. Too much exposure to bad Katara impersonations."

"I wish we'd never come to this play," Zuko agreed. "Toph's the only one who's pleased. But for me, it takes everything I've done wrong in my life, all my mistakes, my pursuit of you, my uncle, and it throws them back in my face."

"I think you're even more down than usual tonight," Amaya said with a small smile.

"Hey," Zuko said defensively. "I've been getting better about that!"

"I know," Amaya said, nodding encouragingly. "And I'm so glad. For a while you were just so… not you. I saw a few times when you were in the palace, you were so sad, and angry, and you weren't the _you_ that I… I love."

"I know," Zuko admitted. "I felt you. And my biggest regret is that I never got to make it up to my uncle. He forgave me in the end I think, he gave me this," he said, reaching into his vest and holding out a crown identical to Amaya's. She looked at it curiously.

"This is the real one," she decided. "Mine's the spiritual one."

"I know," Zuko nodded. "Iroh explained when he gave it to me. He thinks the reason for the dreams and the connection we have is partly the bond between my great-grandfathers, Sozin and Roku, and partly the bond between us. He said that sometimes history like that can make a… what was it?"

"A negative spiritual reflection is the technical term," Amaya shrugged. "It's just a spirit version though."

"Right, that," Zuko nodded. He slipped the crown back into his clothes and sighed. "I miss uncle. He was always there for me and I rewarded him by letting him rot in prison. He even helped me when I came to him but I still didn't get to free him like I meant to."

"I'm pretty sure Iroh would be proud of you," Amaya said thoughtfully. "I mean, I've only met him a few times, but he always seemed to want you to do what you felt was right, even if he disagreed. Do you think you're doing the right thing, staying with us?"

"Of course!" Zuko insisted, wide-eyed and earnest. "For the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm on the right track."

"Then there you go," Amaya said simply. "Come on, let's go back in. There's only a few more minutes of this torture left."

"Ugh, do we have to?" Zuko groaned.

"We can't abandon our friends to the enemy," Amaya said seriously, placing a hand on his shoulder. He laughed and got off the rail, pulling down as well, and they walked back into the darkened theater, taking their seats again.

"Here's what you missed," Sokka said. "We went to the Fire Nation, you got better, Katara was the Painted Lady, I got a sword, and… I think Combustion Man died. Oh look, the invasion!"

Apparently Sokka went backstage to talk to Fake-Sokka, because suddenly he was breaking out highly Sokkaish things and the other actors were looking confused. They reached the palace and Fake-Zuko appeared from nowhere.

"I want to join you."

"I guess we have no choice. Come on!"

"Come on, baby," Fake-Zuko said as he followed Fake-Sokka. Fake-Amaya swooned.

"Oh, Zuko," she cooed.

"Seriously?" Amaya gaped. "I mean… seriously?"

"What's wrong, baby?" Zuko asked her. Amaya glared.

"Call me that again, and I will beat you with my glider."

"Whatever you say, baby."

Amaya groaned and slammed her head into the railing repeatedly.

"Well, I guess that's it," Sokka said, standing up and stretching. "The play's caught up with real life."

"Shh," Suki hushed him. "The play's not over."

"But it is!" Sokka protested. "Unless… this is the future!"

Amaya watched in plain horror as Fake-Azula killed Fake-Zuko, and Fake-Ozai killed Fake-Amaya.

"It is over father. We have done it."

"Yes, we have done it."

Everything she feared. Zuko's death, her own, not being in time, Ozai winning, Azula winning, all of it, the stark reality that it might happen was just shoved unforgivingly into her face.

_"The world… is… mine!"_

The worst part? The audience cheered.

* * *

They all walked home, tired and disappointed.

"That… was not a good play."

"You said it."

"I agree."

"Me too."

"No kidding."

"The effects were good," Sokka said positively.

"Hey,"Amaya said quietly, nudging Zuko. "You're not allowed to die, okay?"

Zuko looked down at her. "Only if you don't."

"It's a deal."


	11. In Which It Isn't a Joke!

**Still holding those hats?**

**I've had a lot of people request a make up scene between Jet and Zuko. I'll explain: I considered doing it, but going off Jet and Zuko's personalities I don't think they'd ever really 'make up.' I can't see them doing a big dramatic 'I'm so sorry' 'Oh it's okay' type thing. I see them as sort of tolerant of each other, not friends.**

* * *

"More ferocious! Imagine punching through your opponent's heart!"

Amaya turned to Zuko with wide-eyes. "Is that really necessary?"

"Do it!"

She yelped and turned, putting more power into her attacks as she spun and kicked, fire streaming around her.

"Good! Now let me hear you roar like a tigerdillo!"

"Erm, meow?"

Zuko blinked. "That was pathetic. Come on, I said roar!"

Amaya turned, through her arms out to the side, tossed back her head, and roared, fire shooting from her mouth and her fists. She turned and looked to Zuko questioningly. He nodded.

"Who wants a nice, cool glass of watermelon juice?" Katara called from where she, Sokka, Suki, and Toph were lounging on the stairs watching the day's training session.

"Oh, my favorite!" Amaya said happily. She took all of two steps towards Katara before she was being strangled by her shirt.

"Not yet," Zuko snapped. "Your training isn't over for today."

"Oh, come on Zuko, what harm could a little break do," Katara coaxed.

"Fine," Zuko snarled. "If you want to lounge around, be my guest, but I'm not getting involved."

"He's been so snarly lately," Amaya sighed. "I mean, I understand that we should keep working, but seriously, would a five-minute drink break really be that horrible?"

"I kind of get where he's coming from," Suki shrugged. "Lounging around the house all day has made us kind of lazy."

"I've got just the cure for that!" Sokka said, standing up excitedly and ripping off his clothes. "Beach party!"

Since no one could think of a downside to this, it was into their swimsuits and off to the beach they went. Suki spread out a towel and lounged while Katara and Amaya stripped down to their underthings and splashed in the water for a while before Amaya got out. Katara kept surfing, jokingly swerving towards Sokka as he frolicked along the waves.

"How do you like my sand-Appa?" Amaya asked as she jammed a log into the head for a horn.

"Not bad, but I've been working on my Sandbending," Toph grinned confidently. "You've got no prayer, Twinkle Toes."

"Oh yeah? Bring it!" Amaya grinned as Sokka crawled out of the water nursing his head and started his own sand sculpture.

Toph turned and stomped. Sand rose into the air in a cloud and when it settled, a model of Ba Sing Se with amazing detail was revealed. Amaya got down on her knees outside the sunken wall and gaped, making out even the details like the corners of the palace roof and the drapes in the windows.

"Wow," she blinked. "There's even a little Kuei and Bosco. They're so cute!"

"What's Sokka doing?" Toph said with a frown. Amaya looked over to see Sokka crouched in front of a pile of sand, hacking at it frantically with a shell.

"I… honestly have no idea."

She got up and the two girls went over to see what Sokka was doing.

"Well, do you like it?" Sokka asked excitedly.

"It's… a giant pile of sand with a grin," Amaya finished lamely.

"It's Suki!" Sokka said, swelling offendedly.

Silence, then both girls burst out laughing.

"Break up with him now Suki," Toph advised.

"I think it's sweet," Suki said, and she was rewarded by a kiss on the cheek from a pleased Sokka.

"It doesn't even look like a squished version of you," Amaya said, shaking her head.

A fireball flew from the sky, slamming into Sokka's sculpture. Toph and Amaya scrambled away. Amaya leapt over Toph's Ba Sing Se as a trail of fireballs hit the ground behind her. She turned to look for her attacker but saw nothing but an approaching blast. She leapt over her Appa and rolled, pressing back against it tightly. Fire roared across the neck, effectively decapitating the sand masterpiece and reducing it to a lump. Amaya poked her head out and gaped when she saw Zuko standing there and scowling.

"What are you doing?"she demanded.

"Teaching you a lesson!" Zuko responded and he struck. Amaya jumped out from behind the Appa into the open sand. Immediately she began processing. Zuko could jump high and could do some pretty impressive acrobatics, but no one could jump higher than an Airbender. That in mind, she sought high ground, knowing the climbing would slow him down.

She jumped the cliffside in small increments, fireballs following all the way to the top. She ran across the top of the cliff, ducked under a fireball, and leapt off a pointed spike onto the top of a palm tree where she crouched. Zuko jumped, landing in the sand below and firing. The leaves caught fire easily and Amaya jumped again onto the roof of the house. She turned and took a ready stance as Zuko landed behind her.

"I will blow you off this roof Zuko, so help me!" she shouted.

"Do it!" Zuko challenged, and attacked. Amaya slid across the tiles and grabbed the frame of a window just below the edge. She swung inside and dove for the nearest cover available. A wardrobe door hung open and she slipped inside, crouching in the shadows just as a hole was blasted through the ceiling and Zuko dropped in. His back was to her, but Amaya hit the wood with her elbow as she lunged, alerting him. He turned just as she connected, taking him to the ground under her. She straddled his stomach and pressed his shoulders to the ground.

"What is your problem?" Amaya demanded.

"What's my problem?" Zuko snapped. "What's yours? Sozin's Comet returns in three days and you're lounging here having beach parties!"

Amaya reared back, surprised. "Zuko… I was going to wait until after the Comet to face the Fire Lord."

Zuko's eyes widened in surprise. "You were… What?"

Amaya sighed, removing her arms and settling back on her heels. "My Firebending is nowhere near close to how good it needs to be, and frankly my Earthbending still needs work too. If I face the Fire Lord now I'll lose, and that's not me being pessimistic, it's a fact. I'm just not strong enough. Besides, the whole goal of attacking before the Comet returned was to stop the Fire Nation before it won the war. That was pretty much shot when they took Ba Sing Se. Things can't get worse."

"You're wrong," Zuko said simply and Amaya looked at him nervously. "Things are going to get a lot worse."

"What do you know?" Amaya asked fearfully.

"It happened a few days before I left. I was called to a War Council, something I'd been wanting to attend since I was young. They started out talking about rebellion in Ba Sing Se and how to stop it. My father asked what I thought, and I said that as long as the Earth Kingdom people had hope, they'd keep fighting."

"Which is true," Amaya agreed softly. Zuko nodded.

"He asked what I thought I would do to remove their hope. Azula said we should burn their land. My father agreed, but his plans took it so much farther than that. Amaya, when Sozin's Comet returns, he intends to do what Sozin himself did and wipe out an entire nation. He's going to destroy all the Earthbenders in the air ships and… and after that he'll take the Water Tribes I guess. He wants to rule the world, and if he destroys the Earth Kingdom… he could definitely do it."

Amaya's mouth was open, her eyes terrified but detached. In her head she could see it all, the screaming Earth Kingdom people as they burned alive, the destruction of a whole people, and Ozai standing over it all, smiling.

"Zuko," Amaya whispered. "Kiss me."

"Why?" he asked, frowning. "I mean, not that I'm opposed, but…"

Amaya shook her head, pressing a hand to her mouth. "Because if I don't do something to distract myself I think I'm going to be sick."

Zuko hugged her close and pressed his lips to hers. Amaya sighed and slumped against him, losing herself in the sensation of slightly chapped lips against hers.

"Oh come on!" raged a voice and the two broke apart, looking up sharply. Sokka was standing in the doorway, flanked by Katara, Suki, and Toph. "He attacks you and you two still can't keep your hands to yourselves?"

"You tell them," Amaya sighed, getting off of him. "I think I'm going to…" She ran from the room, her hand covering her moth and her other arm over her stomach. While Zuko explained, Amaya went to the bathroom and crouched over the toilet, wincing at the smell as she retched. She took deep breaths before turning and leaning against the wall.

To wipe out an entire nation… How could anyone think that was justified? Her mind couldn't even begin to comprehend the reasoning behind something like that. Power? That wasn't anywhere near a good enough excuse. Nothing justified a genocide of innocents. There was only one word for it.

Evil.

She'd never really believed in the concept of evil. She'd always thought people to be inherently good, that the 'evil' in them was a product of their circumstances. People were capable of bad things, but true evil? She hadn't thought is possible outside of the realm of fairytale villains.

She'd never thought she'd have to face something like this. The same thing that had been done to her people… She couldn't even imagine living through that. Some days she was grateful for the fact that she was frozen and didn't have to witness it. But here it was once again, in her lifetime, no less. Was she put on the earth purely to try and stop this?

Yes, she was.

Up until now she'd never really understood what it meant to be the Avatar. Sure, it was easy to imagine herself sitting in a grand house, all-powerful, old, and comfortable, with a loving husband and adorable grandchildren. Up until now, she'd never had to face the duty that came with being the Avatar.

Duty. It all came down to that. It was her duty to save the Earth Kingdom as she hadn't been able to save the Air Nomads. It was her duty to stop the Fire Lord. She didn't have a choice, she had to do it. She may have had a sound reason for putting off the attack on the Fire Lord, but the truth was she was trying to put it off. She kept hoping, somewhere deep inside where she didn't consciously have to face it, that this would all go away, that maybe the Fire Lord would surrender and the world would magically repair itself.

But that was the hope of a child, not an Avatar. She had her duty, yet here she sat, cowering and making excuses. She wasn't strong enough, they should wait for a surprise advantage, he'll be stronger if we go ahead. But all the excuses in the world wouldn't change anything though. She had to do this And she had to do it _now._

Slowly, Amaya pulled herself off the ground and walked out of the bathroom, moving through the hall and out onto the balcony. She sat there watching the sun set over the sea and enjoyed her last few moments of peace.

"I told them." Amaya nodded as Zuko came and sat on the rail beside her.

"I suppose… I suppose it never really sunk in until now that this really did have to happen. Deep inside I was always trying to put it off in the hopes that it would go away." Her eyes hardened. "That's it. No more hiding." Her face crumpled. "But what am I going to do, Zuko?"

"I know you're scared Aya. If it was up to me you wouldn't have to do this. And I know you're not ready to save the world, I won't even try to deny it. But if you don't defeat the Fire Lord before the Comet returns there won't be a world left to save."

"Zuko, don't freak out okay," Amaya said, her voice wavering. "But I'm going to start crying on your shoulder in probably about five seconds."

Zuko turned to look at her and he could see her brave mask, but tells still slipped through. Her quivering lips, her wide eyes. He pulled her close, leaning her forehead against his chest. "It's okay," he said as he felt her shoulders shake. Her hands reached up and wrapped around his shoulders as she sobbed, wet tears dripping onto his shirt. "It's okay Aya," he murmured over and over, and he held her while she sobbed.

* * *

It was silent that night as they all stood on the porch in a loose circle, waiting for someone to say something, to break the pause. Amaya took a deep breath.

"This is going to be the hardest thing we've ever faced together," she said softly. "But if we work together, we've got a real shot."

"Alright!" Sokka cheered loudly, breaking the stillness. "Team Avatar is back! Air, Water, Earth, Fire, Fan, and Sword!"

"Then let's do this!" Toph cheered. They all moved together in a tight group hug, Amaya dragging Zuko along forcefully.

"So I guess we need to head out if we're going to get to the Fire Lord in three days."

"There's one last thing I need to teach Amaya," Zuko said. "Then we can go."

"Okay," Sokka said, immediately going into planning mode. "Katara, Toph, you guys are in charge of getting some food together, then helping Suki get everything packed and on Appa. Zuko, you teach Amaya. I'll make sure all the weapons are in shape." He took a deep breath. "Let's get to work."

* * *

"Okay, Suki and I come around and draw his fire," Sokka explained, doodling in the sand with his stick. "Katara and Zuko come in with some liquid hot offense. Then Amaya swoops in and delivers the final blow. Got it?" Sokka asked.

"What about me?" Toph said.

"Right now, you're the Melon Lord's forces."

"You mean I get to chuck flaming rocks at you guys?" Toph said, sounding a little too excited for comfort.

"Whatever it takes to make the training more realistic," Sokka shrugged. "Remember guys, we pull out tomorrow, so we have to do as much as we can."

"Sweetness," Toph beamed.

Their tactics established, they all took their stops and the fighting began. Sokka and Suki raced in, dodging a flaming rock before they were faced with a trio of rock soldiers that slid towards them. Suki knocked one over and Sokka sliced through one, ignoring the last as they raced forwards. Katara and Zuko came in hard and fast before they were distracted by a circle of soldiers ringing them.

"Amaya, now!" Sokka yelled as Katara and Zuko carved through the ranks. Amaya ran forwards, shooting off of the top of a spur of rock lightly and coming down towards the frozen Melon Lord with a punishing blow from her glider.

Something inside her wrenched and Amaya's thoughts froze. She was… going to kill him. It was just an effigy, but she was going to kill him. She was going to be a murderer. The thought was so inherently wrong, went against everything in her moral code and everything that she'd been taught while being raised as a monk, that she was almost physically bowled over by it.

As it was, she froze, dropping to the ground in front of the Melon Lord with her staff six inches from his head. She stared at his comically evil smirk and felt knots drawn in her stomach. Death, to deal out such lasting judgment upon an individual… What gave her that right? She didn't feel that anyone _deserved _death. Death wasn't something you _could_ deserve in her mind. It wasn't supposed to be a punishment; it was supposed to be the natural end to a cycle.

She was the Avatar, yes, and that gave her the power to deal out judgment, but did it give her the right? People looked to the Avatar as a sort of spiritual judge, but did she really have any more right than any person off the street to condemn someone like that? And if she did, then why didn't everyone else? Was everyone to judge everyone else? No, that would lead to anarchy and waves of bloodshed.

"What's wrong with you?" she dimly heard Sokka. "If this was the real thing you'd be pumped full of lightning right now!" He stood in front of her, staring at her angrily and Amaya lowered her eyes to the ground.

"I'm sorry," she said weakly. "It just… felt wrong. I didn't feel like myself."

Sokka looked at her coldly, before drawing his sword and swinging it viciously. The Melon Lord's head fell to the ground in two pieces and Amaya physically flinched at the horrible squelching sound.

"That's how it's done," Sokka said frigidly. Amaya shut her eyes tightly.

It had to be done… There was no other way…

She stretched out her foot and stamped hard on one half of the melon. It squished under her foot. Sokka nodded to her encouragingly.

Amaya felt dirty.

* * *

Her dinner tasted like ash as the others discussed the horror that was Fire Lord Ozai. She wished Katara hadn't found that picture. She was being forced to acknowledge the good in the life she was expected to snuff out. It made it so much worse.

"I don't get why you're so upset Amaya," Sokka said, slurping on noodles. "Ozai is _evil_ and he needs to be taken out."

Amaya sighed, standing up and pacing while she fiddled absently with the chopsticks in the bowl. "This goes against everything the monks taught me," Amaya mused. "Am I supposed to just go around and wipe out people I think aren't quite good enough?"

"I pretty sure it's okay, since you're the _Avatar_," Sokka snorted. "I mean, if it's in the name of the _great cosmic balance_ and all that, I _think_ the universe with understand."

Everything that have been building up inside her exploded at that amused and Amaya whirled on him. "_Shut up Sokka!"_ Amaya roared. Startled expressions met her as she hurled her bowl to the ground with every ounce of strength and anger in her frame. It shattered, pieces flying everywhere. One flew up and nicked Sokka on the arm.

"Amaya, what is wrong with you?" he snapped, touching the cut.

"This isn't a _joke_ Sokka!" she snarled. "You don't get it, none of you, the position I'm in!"

"We do understand," Katara said tensely, looking angry. "We're just trying to _help!_"

"You want to help?" Amaya hissed, baring her teeth viciously. "Then stop trying to make me a _murderer!_ When you find a way to defeat Ozai _without killing him_, let me know. Until then, just… _just leave me the hell alone!_"

Amaya fled, streaking from the courtyard furiously with the wind aiding her speed. She ran to her room and threw herself onto the bed, screaming and howling into her pillow with all her might until her throat was raw and painful. Her coiled muscles slacked as she slumped forwards on the sheets.

"Gyatso, I need you," she bleated pitifully. "What do I _do?_"

The solution came surprisingly easy to her. The first step to solving any problem is meditation the monks had always said. So she made her way to her pack and pulled out four thick candles before moving out onto the balcony. She lit them with a flick of her hand and settled in front of them, regulating her breathing and clearing her mind of anything extraneous.

Eventually anything extraneous faded to anything at all, and she slept.

Amaya awoke to voices chanting in her ears. It was primitive, primal, and jerked at something inside that pulled her to her feet and forced her over the rail and on the long trek down to the beach. Her eyes were glassy as she paced across the sand, fixed on the island just across the bay. She stepped into the water and then lunged forwards, her arms carving through the waves.


	12. In Which It All Comes Down to This

Amaya's eyes fluttered open and she forced herself upright with a groan, looking around. The scent of grass and the ocean reached her nose. Blinking, she looked around in confusion. She seemed to be in from sort of forest, vies dripping from tall trees and ferns growing up from the ground. She had collapsed in a clearing.

Dimly, she heard the chanting once more and remembered what happened the past night, her impromptu swim and then arriving on the island. Momo jumped in front of her face and chattered. Amaya scooped him up and placed him on her shoulder as she stood. His tail coiled around her neck, ticking. Amaya started walking, staring around.

"What is this place?" she wondered. "Got any ideas, Momo? Is it some kind of island? Because I distinctly remember there not being an island in that bay when we first showed up. I didn't think about it last night, but forested islands don't exactly just pop up out of the water. There are a bunch of natural processes involved and… and that _really_ doesn't matter right now. Oh god, they're going to _kill _me!"

She paused, looking down at the ground just beyond a rise. She jumped, landing squarely in the center of a hexagonal patch with an abstract symmetrical design in the middle.

"What is this?" she wondered. "It doesn't feel like normal stone." She turned and punched, but nothing happened. "It's not earth! Ugh, is it too much to ask something make sense?" she groaned, flopping onto her back. "Momo, I need help. I need Gyatso, or... or…" Her head snapped up. "Roku!"

Quickly, she sat up and arranged herself in a position for meditation and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. She delved deep, beyond her consciousness and into the spiritual part of her that fairly exploded with energy. She pawed through it, like peeling through layers of fabric, and immediately felt a familiar spirit. She grabbed it and yanked, throwing it forcefully into the physical world.

"Good job, Amaya," Roku said. Amaya's eyes flashed open and she saw the glowing blue spirit of Roku kneeling in front of her. "The wisdom and experience of past Avatars is always available to you if you look deep enough."

"Well, I went deep and found you, so could you maybe tell me where I am?" Amaya asked.

"I… honestly don't know. But I sense you are lost in more ways than one, my dear," he said, looking at her shrewdly.

"I have to figure out what to do when I face the Fire Lord," Amaya explained. "Everyone acts like it's so simple, I just kill him and we go on about our lives, but it's just… just not easy."

"In my life I tried to be disciplined and restrained. It backfired, however. Sozin took advantage of my restraint and mercy. Perhaps if I had been more decisive and moved against Sozin sooner, I could have stopped the war at its root. I offer this to you Amaya. You must be decisive."

Roku's figure slid backwards and the dissolved into rapidly-fading mist. Amaya lowered her head.

She already knew she had to be decisive. Hesitating for even a moment could mean her death or the death of one of her friends. There was no room for second-guessing. Whatever she did, she had to be completely sure before she even began, or it could have dire consequences.

She needed someone who'd faced this before, the choice on whether to kill or not. What Avatar had taken a life, one that she knew for sure. A painted white face and flashing fans drifted across her mind and Amaya delved back into her mind, peeling back layers and searching for Kyoshi. She felt a strong, but feminine aura, one that was unflinching and fierce. She knew immediately that this was Kyoshi and called to her.

"Avatar Kyoshi, please, I need your wisdom!"

"In my day," said a calm, modulated voice, and Amaya opened her eyes to face Kyoshi. Even as a spirit, the brilliant colors of her face hadn't diminished. "Chin the conqueror threatened to throw the world out of balance. I stopped him, and we entered an era of peace."

"You didn't really kill Chin though," Amaya recalled. "He fell to his death because he was too stubborn to move."

"Personally I don't really see the difference," Kyoshi said simply. "But I assure you, I would have done whatever it took to stop Chin. I offer you this wisdom Amaya: Only justice will bring peace." With that, Kyoshi faded.

Justice. Again, something she already knew. She had to be just, and that was just the problem. Was it just to judge Ozai and find him worthy of death? She didn't know him personally, could not know the happier, kinder parts of his life. He was not just a soulless monster, or at least he hadn't always been. The picture Katara found proved that. That happy child might still be in there. Was it just to slaughter it as well?

"I knew Kyoshi wouldn't help," Amaya huffed. "She's too strong, a lot stronger than I am. If she needs to do something she goes right ahead and does it." Amaya jumped back in, and at this point she was just looking for someone, anyone. She seized a random incarnation that felt troubled, just s she did, and threw it into reality mercilessly. She opened er eyes to find a Waterbender in a thick coat and wolf hood sitting in front of her.

"I am Avatar Kurik," he greeted. "When I was young, I was very much a 'go with the flow' sort of Avatar. People seemed to work out their own problems, and there was peace and good times. But then I lost the woman I loved to Koh, the Face Stealer. It was my fault. If I had been more attentive and more active, I could have saved her. Amaya, you must actively shape your own destiny, and the destiny of the world." Kurik left with those words.

Amaya sighed. So she couldn't just sit here and wait for it to happen, she knew she had to get up and do this. Were all these incarnations being deliberately unhelpful? She knew she had to do something, she just didn't know what to do. All her life she had hated being told what to do, but now she would give anything for even a nudge in any direction.

"He grew up in the Poles, it's harsh and you have to kill to survive, to get food. He didn't have philosophy pounded into his head about why killing is wrong and how murder is an abomination. And maybe that's the problem!" Amaya realized. "I need an Airbender!"

She jumped once more into the pool of spiritual energy, diving through layers and peeling back reincarnations until she found one that felt, calm and peaceful. She knew immediately that it was an Airbender. She knew that feeling; it was one she felt when she meditated.

"I am Avatar Yangchen, young Airbender." Amaya opened her eyes to see a full monk sitting in front of her, clad in flowing robes and with her hair shaved in the appropriate style to show her arrows. She wore a rosary similar to the one Amaya had given Gyatso around her neck, and she wondered vaguely if she'd been influenced by Yangchen as she made it.

"Avatar Yangchen, the monks always said that all life is sacred, even that of the tiniest spiderfly caught in its own web."

"Yes, all life is sacred," Yangchen agreed.

"Thank you!" Amaya said, waving her head. "I'm even a vegetarian! But anyway, I rely on my brains to get me out of tough spots, and even though I admit I like sparring and fighting, I never use it for purposes beyond necessary defense. _Never_ to take a life."

"Avatar Amaya, I know you are a gentle spirit, and the monks schooled you well. But this isn't about you. It's about the world."

"But the monks taught me I had to detach myself from the world so my spirit could be free!" Amaya protested.

"Many great and wise Air Nomads have detached themselves and achieved spiritual enlightenment. But the Avatar can never do it because your sole duty is to the world. Here is my wisdom for you: Selfless duty calls for you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the world."

"Momo," Amaya whispered as Yangchen faded. "So I really not have a choice? Yangchen said I had to be selfless, but I know I'm a selfish person. I can't do that. But… what else can I do?"

Amaya was exhausted spiritually. Keeping reincarnations in the physical world was much more taxing than going to them. So she did the only thing that made sense.

She laid down and took a nap.

Amaya awoke to feel movement. Looking around, she realized that the ocean was moving past much faster than it should have been, and the mountains in the distance were getting… closer?

"Momo?" Amaya questioned. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but islands don't usually move, right?" She stood and ran to the edge of the island, arcing smoothly over the side and into the water. She blinked away the sting of salt water and looked. She backpedalled furiously as a gigantic clawed foot flashed in front of her face. Amaya's eyes widened as she finally processed what she was seeing. Her mind cycled through images and hit upon one she had seen in Wan Shi Tong's library. Lion turtle, he brain supplied.

Amaya shot to the surface. "Momo, stay!" she called, before swirling an orb of air around her and diving back under water. She shot alongside the behemoth and skidded around the edge of its shoulder. Her head jerked to the side as a flash of movement caught her eye. In fact, it was an eye that caught her eye. Amaya pushed back furiously as she stared at the eye that was nearly twice as large as she was. She had known it was big, but she hadn't quite realized hoe truly huge it was until now as it began to surface, the water dragged around it. Something solid came up under her feet and lifted her up. Amaya coughed as she emerged back into the air and she looked down to see a mammoth, scaly paw under her feet. Looking up, she saw its face.

It held an interesting blend of features. The muzzle of a lion, but smushed flat, like the face of a turtle. Its mouth was open and lined with mossy yellow teeth littered with debris from past meals. Its face was wrinkled and lined with age and it had tusks and whiskers protruding above its curled upper lip. It had large yellow eyes that stared down at her intelligently.

"Can you help me?" Amaya asked, bowing reverently. "Everyone, even me, well, my past lives, want me to kill Fire Lord Ozai, but I don't know if I could or should do it."

A voice echoed in her head, deep and gravelly, and filled with a sagely quality that only came from millennia of experience and thought. _"The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions, without being lost. The true heart can touch the poison of hatred, without being harmed. Since beginningless time, darkness had thrived in the void." _A clawed hand reached from the water, moving towards her. Amaya wondered vaguely if she should be frightened, but found she wasn't. She wasn't anything compared to this being, she could do nothing against it. So she relaxed, and let the claws come towards her. _"But it always yields to purifying light." _Something brushed her forehead and chest.

Amaya felt nothing but energy. It was coursing through her, lying in wait to be channeled into bending. But the truly amazing thing was that she understood. She knew how it moved, how it flowed, understood completely how it worked. She saw the paths it took, the ways required for bending, and she saw how to block it, how to cut it off, to knot it so completely it could not ever be untangled again.

Amaya smiled blissfully, tears rolling down her cheeks as green light bathed her. This was her solution, and it was so perfect. Knowledge flowed through her and for a moment Amaya felt what the lion turtle felt. She felt its age, and its connection to the world and everything around it. It was beyond time, beyond outside influence, a silent beacon of energy that existed purely to _live._ And now she truly understood what a miracle life was.

The monks had used countless poems and texts, written centuries before by famous philosophers, and Amaya had known life was sacred, was amazing, but it was simply an accepted fact, like that the sky is blue. She didn't know why it was true before now. And she reveled in it, basking.

As the Avatar, Amaya had had many spiritual encounters. Koh, Haibi, even combining with the ocean spirit at the North Pole, but she knew that this was the even she would remember beyond all others.

She opened her eyes and found herself near a ledge of rock. Amaya hopped down and turned to the massive lion turtle, bowing deeper than she ever had before, awed by it. She raised her head as it spoke.

"Wait for him here. He will come."

With those parting words, the lion turtle retreated from the shore and sank back into the water. Amaya bowed once more and stayed that way until its shadow vanished beneath the waves. She held out her hand as she straightened and Momo landed. Amaya perched him on her shoulder and jumped, moving up the rocks to the top of a column studded with trees as the sun fell behind her Amaya turned and watched as Sozin's Comet ripped through the sky in front of her. She took a deep breath, sat down, and waited.

As expected, Ozai came in a blaze of fire, standing on a platform below the largest airship she had ever seen. A huge, ornate gold phoenix head studded the end, meant to display power and royal authority. Amaya was unimpressed.

She could see him, standing there with fire streaming from his palms, his hair whipping around him with his robes. An insane smile carved across his face and his eyes glowed triumphantly. Miles of forest were decimated in a single instant. Amaya could still feel energy pumping inside her, around her, and could feel the energy rolling from the fire, almost overshadowing the smaller pinpricks of energy that were extinguished as trees and animals alike burned to cinders under Ozai's attention.

"Momo, time to go," she said simply, giving him a pat on the head and sending him off. Everything seemed so simple now. Even facing down the Fire Nation army and Ozai himself, she was not afraid. She felt calm, controlled. She had decided, she was actively shaping the world. She was doing what she had to, and she was confident it was just. She was following the advice of her predecessors.

With that in mind, Amaya breathed, and moved. She jumped, legs flying in powerful kicks and stone disks flew from underneath her, whizzing unerringly towards the engines powering the airship and destroying them. The stone dropped from under her and she flipped onto another pillar. She watched as it veered crazily and then jerked and dipped, coming down fast. Amaya turned, whirling and gathering energy, and struck, sending a jet of fire at the rear of the airship. She bathed it in heat and spun it slightly, twisting it to the Ozai was coming in from behind and to her right.

Amaya turned and for the first time, she locked eyes with the Fire Lord. His face displayed surprise. Perhaps he was surprised by her youth or her skill, perhaps it was her determination, but it didn't stop him for long. He stripped off his robes almost angrily, incinerating them until he was left in only loose trousers, before thrusting his fists back and shooting towards her. Amaya stood strong and steady even as the earth shook when the air ship collided with some of the stone pillars, the burning wreckage held aloft.

"After generations of Fire Lords failing, the universe delivers you to me as an act of providence!" Ozai said, amusement in his voice. Amaya blinked at him.

"Actually, a lion turtle delivered me, but that's beside the point," she said. "Please, listen to me! We don't have to fight. You have the power to end this here and now, before any more damage is done!"

"You are right," Ozai agreed, but Amaya could tell just by the confident tone of his voice that he was not truly agreeing with her. "I have the power. I have all the power in the world!" He threw back his head, fire streaming from his fists and between his lips. Amaya watched, but did not let him intimidate her. She settled back into a bending stance and waited as a shockwave of flame roared towards her. She jumped high over top of it and came down on her hands and feet. She seized the rock below her and yanked a chunk free, turning in midair, dragging it overhead, and then forcing it with her feet towards Ozai. He dodged easily, and flew towards her on another corona of fire. He blasted at her and Amaya whipped her own fire around, deflecting it before it could reach her.

The force still pushed her back and Amaya suddenly found herself on the defensive, jumping from spire to spire as she deflected waves and blasts from Ozai's hands and feet. She landed and blocked a small portion of the fire blast, just deflecting it from around her, and used the majority of her energy to seize a rock from the ground and hurl it in Ozai's general direction. She didn't expect it to connect; it was meant more as a distraction while she gathered herself and prepared to go back on the offensive.

Stretching out her senses, she heard a waterfall roaring behind her. Taking two large jumps back, shielding herself from Ozai's attacks all the way, she swooped her arms around, dousing Ozai's next two attacks, but he himself dodged before the water could connect with him as she had hoped. Amaya jumped back down the other side of the tower, dodging and hurting rocks as she went, wrapping herself in a cocoon of air to survive a blast before landing on another peak and skidding along a ledge. She scooted to the other side and used the pillar as a fire break before shooting towards one directly behind it, repelling off and throwing the top half of the pillar towards Ozai.

At least, she thought she had, in reality he had sneaked around while her back was turned and Amaya raised her hands over her face in a measly defense as a wave of fire headed towards her from only a few yards away. She thrust forwards, a wall of air causing the fire to billow around her harmlessly, but that was all it did. She was slammed back into a pillar and dropped to the ground on all fours, rolling down a slight incline. Ozai landed next to her as she got up and Amaya slammed herself against the cliffside as Ozai punched, drawing rock around her. She stepped into the blaze and was forced back along the ledge. Amaya turned her rocky armor into a simple wall that she pushed off of, sending a cyclone back towards Ozai as he decimated the wall.

Amaya wasn't quite sure what she'd done, but clearly it had angered Ozai. He was drawing on lightning now and Amaya fearfully raced up the side of the tower in a cyclone of her own to avoid the first blast even as he drew up a second one. She leveled out at the top of the forest of stone spires and jumped across several even as the second attack flew up at an angle behind her.

For a tense few seconds, it was all Amaya could do to dodge behind pillars as Ozai hurled chains of lightning after her, occasionally breaking off a chunk and throwing it at him. They settled across from each other on two spires. Ozai turned, face bathed in a ghastly blue glow, and sent the lightning streaming through her. Amaya stretched out her hand, two fingers extended.

_Let the energy flow past your heart._

She did, holding it in her arms, but she understood why this technique was so hard. The power was exhilarating, but the feeling of fear of the energy inside her was horrible. She turned her other hand on Ozai, intending to release it. She could have done it right then, she could have ended it. He wouldn't have been able to block it, she could see by the shocked expression on his face. But she had a plan, and she would not deviate from it a bit. Amaya leveled her arm at a point in the distance and released, lightning spiraling off and fading into nothing. As the energy left she felt weak, woozy, and shaken. Her knees wavered and then gave out altogether and Amaya slumped to the ground.

She could feel the heat growing so she leapt to her feet, her strength already returned, and raised a wall, but her moment of weakness was one moment too long. Her wall was hasty and weak, and did nothing as fire washed over it. She was forced back, flames licking at her clothes and the end of her braid, and Amaya felt herself falling. She forced her eyes open and everything clicked into focus as she saw the water rushing up fast. At this height, the fall would likely break something if she didn't act quickly. Amaya rotated sharply, spinning herself into a safe ball of air and let herself fall, riding the waves of her impact back to the shore.

She looked up to see Ozai standing over her for only a moment before he swooped down like the phoenix he seemed obsessed with. He was close, so close, too close. Amaya instinctively curled into a ball, raising the rock around her into a protective orb, and she took a moment to simply breath, to calm herself, and to take a moment.

Outside, she heard Ozai cackle. "You're weak, just like the rest of your people. They did not _deserve_ to exist in this world," he hissed. "In _my_ world. Prepare to join them! Prepare to _die!_"

Amaya could hear and feel him pounding away with fire outside of her safe sphere. The stone around her was getting hot, too hot, the air inside baking. She curled tighter. It wasn't safe to come out now, she had allowed him too close. She may have just lost, depending on if she could get out and away a decent distance before she was injured.

"Come on out Avatar! You can't hide in there forever!"

"Watch me," Amaya mumbled spitefully, but even her voice seemed to loud, so she said nothing more, instead thinking desperately to try and think of a way out. Ozai was fast, that was one of his main advantages, and he was being blessed by Sozin's Comet. She couldn't hold him off until it had passed, so she had to fight him when he was fully empowered. The Avatar State would have been helpful, but that was no longer in her arsenal, so it didn't even bear thinking about.

She jerked, curling tighter as the ball was lifted and slammed back against another spire. She felt a continuous blast, lasting for several seconds, but it wasn't enough to break her. Ozai retreated for a moment, but Amaya knew he wasn't done, by any means. He was gathering himself for another attack. That in mind, Amaya strengthened the walls around her, throwing every bit of defiance she had in her into them.

But it wasn't enough. The rocks were slowly stripped away by a wall of heat that tore through her simple air sphere. Amaya slammed backwards and something stabbed into her back, directly over where Azula had once struck her.

_She saw them. She saw them all. She was spinning, their faces were whirling around her. Kyoshi, Yangchen, Kurik, so many others she had no names for. Their eyes glowed, fixed intently on her. Amaya felt it, the power of the Avatar State flowing into her. She saw the huge glowing body of her cosmic energy and embraced it._

She could feel it, the power pumping through her as she came back to her physical body. Her thoughts were no longer on the fight, intricate strategies she had thought of. Her mind seemed at once to work faster, yet more primitively.

_Get the other guy. Do not let him get you._

"Come out little girl, come out and face your-"

Ozai was cut off abruptly as Amaya's hand flashed out and grasped his beard, yanking his face down demeaningly as she used it to pull herself from the rubble. She just stared at him, face fixed in a snarl as he struck at her angrily, his hand coming around in a punishing, flaming chop at her exposed throat. Amaya's hand twitched out, easily deflecting him with a flick of her wrist. Fire spiraled above them but she ignored him, focused on her prey. She swirled her arms and blasted him backwards, not even bothering to watch him skid through the dirt as she called the element that was her birthright to swirl around her. She rose into the air, hovering high over Ozai and glaring down at him. Her anger at the man who had ruined so many lives bubbled up and she threw back her head, screaming, but what came out was a stream of fire. Flames gushed from her feet and fists, flailing like tentacles and smashing through the rock spires with no more effort than a child knocking over blocks.

She took that fire, coiled it and condensed it, subjugated it to her will and made it spiral around her outside the air, waiting like an obedient dog to be called on. She called out to the earth next, grabbing rocks from the shattered pillars and pulling more up from the ground. She clenched her fists tighter and they obeyed her subtlest movements, coiling around her just inside the air. She reached out towards the ocean and it came to her call as well, coiling inside the orbiting rocks. She stood there in midair, surrounded by the elements spiraling around her, ready and willing to protect herself.

Thus armed, Amaya attacked. Ozai was pinned against the air surrounded her. Sneering, she threw him away with a flick of her hand and sent him flying. He frantically scrambled to get out of the reach of the ring of fire flying off in fear. Amaya's lips twitched. He thought he could escape? He had threatened her, he would not be allowed to flee.

She rose up, losing sight of him among the rock pillars, but that mattered little, she raised a hand, flicking her fingers out, and a rock shattered into tiny but deadly bullets that rained down on a good mile of rock. Ozai flew out over the dust and her eyes caught on him immediately, widening. She chased after him, teeth bared. Ozai suddenly seemed so terribly slow. Had she really thought him fast? It was easy to clap two pillars together, catching his foot and disrupting his flight long enough to swoop around and spray him with a thick jet of water. He fell to the ground sopping, and looked up as she burst through the stone overhead. She came down at him, ignoring the blast of fire he sent her way. She sank into the ground just a moment too late to crush him.

She could see him up above on a pillar, fighting. He blasted fire at her but she simple snapped her forearms together, breaking off the tops of two pillars and using them as a shield. Fire broke around them weakly and she smashed through, ignoring all but her target and the minor obstacles he kept throwing up. She sent out five tentacle of fire and he dodged, sending back three in retaliation. She sliced the middles out of them with water, then circled them with air and disbanded them, not taking time to notice the sheer artistry of the move she had created.

Ozai flew on, dodging desperately, sometimes just barely, while she crashed through towers recklessly racing after him. She stretched out her hand, waving it in a circle. Water obeyed, circling around his ankle, twining up his foot, and wrapping around his chest. She swung her arms, slamming him against the top of a pillar where he lay, breathless and sodden, while she advanced. His eyes were glued to her, wide and terrified. She raised her arms, the rock around him rising to encase his legs and arms.

"Fire Lord Ozai," she said, her voice echoing with the voices of those who came before her. She was One of Many. "You and your forefathers had devastated the balance of this world, and now you shall pay the ultimate price." Her hands came up, followed by all of the elements. They arced gracefully over her head, twisting around each other in perfect harmony to form a lethal point that dove directly for Ozai.

It could have easily drilled into him. It could have ripped open his stomach, it could have punctured her heart, it could have torn a lung, it could have utterly destroyed his face. It did none of those things. Amaya's morals rose up and her glow faded. Water splashed harmlessly around Ozai, the wind and fire dissipating as the rocks clattered around him. The stones holding him prisoner fell away as Amaya lowered herself to the ground, the air around her flying to the corner of the world.

"No," she said softly, her eyes closed. "I won't end it this way, no matter what the world wants."

"Even with all the power in the world," Ozai growled. "You are still weak."

He struck. Amaya dipped, her foot coming back. A triangle of stone wrapped around his wrist, holding him. Amaya danced around to his other side. He struck again and Amaya repeated the process. She stood straight and lowered her palms along the center of her body. Ozai tried to breathe fire at her but Amaya blasted air in his face, stopping him. Her hands moved, one thumb on his forehead and the other on his sternum. The lion turtle's words echoed in her mind.

_In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements, but the energy._

She reached out with her own energy, reaching inside for Ozai's energy. She could feel them clashing inside his body, could feel them warring against each other. Energy seemed to flow out of them as each fought for dominance. Amaya herself didn't even feel as if it was truly her who was fighting, like it was a force moving through her, using her as a conduit, that was doing everything.

_To bend another's energy, you own spirit must be unbendable, or you will be corrupted and destroyed._

She could feel it though. Ozai's energy was sneaking past, was creeping into her. For a moment she was drowning, drowning in fire and blood and desire for power, and she could feel it taking root along her arms, in her chest, in her head.

"_NO!"_ she screamed with everything inside of her. _"I WILL NOT LOSE!"_

And just like that, the battle was won. Amaya could feel her own energy flood Ozai, she reached out along it, finding something, a core inside of him, and pulled at it, yanking, tying knots around it that could never be untangled. She cut off the essence of his bending, forever locking it away inside of him, beyond his reach.

Amaya slumped as she let go, Ozai's bonds falling away as her strength fluttered, but she forced herself upright, gathering herself. He swung at her weakly, but she ignored it. He had no power left, she knew.

"What- what did you do to me?" Ozai gasped as he flopped weakly against the stone.

"I took away your bending," Amaya said simply, moving to the edge of the pillar and staring out over the blazing forest and airships. "You can't use fire to hurt or threaten anyone ever again." She took a deep breath and her eyes flared briefly. Amaya raised her hands. The ocean responded, the water level rising around the burning trees and broken ships. When the fire was gone, she lowered her hands, and let herself stare out over the plain.

It was over.

Amaya chuckled. "I know how Zuko felt now," she smiled. "For so long hunting me was his purpose, and when he lost that he had no idea what to do with himself. For so long, defeating you was my drive. And now that it's done… I don't honestly know what I'm going to do with myself." She looked up as the last mobile airship rose over the lip of the pillar. "We have company."

After a moment, Suki and Toph emerged supporting a hobbling Sokka.

"That was amazing!" he shouted, waving his hands wildly. "You were all like _pshoo fwoom pow swish! _And the Fire Lord was all like _oh argh ugh ack!_"

Suki walked over to Ozai, who was slumped against the rock, still, eyes closed. "So did you… you know. Finish the job."

"I'm still alive," Ozai hissed, glaring up at her hatefully. Suki pulled back and blinked at him owlishly.

"I learned there was another way to defeat him," Amaya shrugged. "I took his bending away."

"Wow," Toph said as she and Sokka gaped. "Who taught you that?"

"A giant lion turtle."

"You have the craziest adventures when you disappear."

"It's an Avatar thing," Amaya beamed.

Sokka hobbled over to Suki and leaned on her for support. "So, I guess now that you lost we should call you the _Loser Lord_!"

"I am the Pheonix King!" Ozai shouted weakly, but it was ruined as he pitched forwards weakly on his face.

"Oh, didn't mean to offend you, Pheonix _King of Getting His Butt Kicked_!" Toph snorted.

"Yeah!" Suki cheered. "Or how about King of… Guys who don't win?"

"Leave the nicknames to us honey," Toph advised.

* * *

**This Author's Note is IMPORTANT and comes to you in two parts:  
**

**The show series is... over. So after this it'll be mostly just scenes from afterwards, not full-length chapters, though I will be updating it regularly. There are three reasons it won't be big long chapters after now. One, I have basically disconnected scenes in my hand that you can't really put together into one chapters. Two, I want to keep my updates fairly regular. Three, I want to work on another story I'm considering posting.**

**That leads to the second part of the author's note. I'm starting a new series that's going to be even more AU than this. We're talking serious AU. It will also be ZukoXOC, but the OC won't be an Avatar. this time, it'll be a dragon rider. Yep, you read that right. It's basically based on the idea of what if Sozin militarized the dragons instead of hunting them, with a bit of Eragon-esque flavor thrown in. Anybody interested in this? Vote in my profile or leave a comment.  
**


	13. In Which Zuko Asks a Question

**I have a lot of people I want to recognize, who reviewed faithfully and gave ideas and encouragement and are just straight-up awesome!**

**Fishpuppy  
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**egarcia513  
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**Molly Grace 16  
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**sialormajinmoon  
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**Lulu56048  
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**Lady of the Spirit  
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**fireworkfield  
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**GiulyyyItaly  
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**C (anonymous reviewer)  
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**little ninja of awesome (still love that penname)  
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**AerisCote  
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**LittleMissWolfie  
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**Momo da Monkee (anonymous reviewer)  
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**SeaDevil  
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**And seriously, this last one is the reason I got this far:  
**

**BookLover4Ever Yay  
**

**Seriously. If I could give you a digital computer hug type thing, I would.  
**

* * *

It was strange how normal things were after that.

Well, not normal. Everyone had healed up and rested for a week. They all came out unscathed. Zuko most assuredly had the worst of it. Amaya had been horrified when she found out what had happened with Azula and had immediately given him a once over herself with her Waterbending, before grinning and proclaiming them 'scar buddies.'

Zuko just stared at her.

It was then that she and Katara had followed through on the pact made in the Cave of the Two Lovers. Miraculously, they both still had the chunks of crystal they had taken from the caves, and they both still glowed in the dark. They had gathered Haru and Zuko, told them the story, and then given them the crystals. The boys had been touched, although Amaya was a bit confused by the thoughtful look Zuko had given his piece.

In the week leading up to the coronation of Zuko as Fire Lord there was so much to do. There was a lot of stuff to do involving rebuilding the Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation was being made to pay reparations, though it was Zuko who offered in the first place. But there was so much that after everything they'd been though just seemed… well stupid.

Did it really matter what pattern of china was used at the feast? Were Amaya's clothes and hairstyle really that essential? Did she have to make a speech? Between all that had been going on, Team Avatar had barely seen each other during the week before the coronation. They all would finally come together that night though, and after that things would begin to settle down, for which Amaya was grateful.

Amaya was sitting against the wall by the door that would lead onto the dais where Zuko would be crowned in a matter of minutes. She was meditating, trying to calm her nerves before she walked out there and gave her speech. Everything she had penned out managed to sound incredibly stupid. She hadn't been able to come up with anything poetic or poignant or witty, so she had decided to go with the tried and true method.

She was going to wing it.

"Hey."

Amaya opened one eye and saw Mai standing there, leaning against a column not too far down the hall, looking at her. She had known the girl was coming, but she hadn't expected Mai to try and talk to her. Amaya and Zuko's relationship had been made public knowledge, and she had kind of expected Mai to be a bit frosty with her. Well frosti_er_.

"Mai," she greeted, rising.

"So you and Zuko."

"Me and Zuko."

They met eyes, each walking towards the other until they could have reached out and clasped hands. They just locked gazes, communicating silently in that way girls do. Amaya nodded as a decision was reached.

"Friends?"

"Friends," Mai agreed, holding out a hand. Amaya grinned mischievously.

"If we're going to be friends that's not going to cut it."

Mai raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to talk, but Amaya jumped at her, wrapping her in a tight bear hug. She felt Mai stiffen and laughed as a hand hesitantly came up and patted her shoulder.

"I see you two are getting along well."

"Zuko," they chorused. Amaya immediately went to his side, grasping his hand and pecking him on the cheek.

"I'm going to get going," Mai said, gesturing to a side door that would lead out to the main courtyard.

"You don't have to," Amaya began, but Mai cut her off with a raised hand.

"Please," she snorted. "I don't want to witness this. It'll be gross, I know it." She turned and walked out.

"Hey Mai!" Amaya called. "Have Katara point Jet out to you. I think you two would get along." She winked, grinning. Mai rolled her eyes and left.

"Mai and Jet?" Zuko said skeptically, raising an eyebrow. Amaya shrugged.

"You can't see it working?"

"No. Not at all." Zuko looked her up and down and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Amaya demanded.

"You just look so bundled up in all those layers. I'm used to your short shirts with the flappy sleeves."

"My sleeves are usually somewhat flappy," Amaya admitted. "Hold on." She reached down and began stripping, leaving herself in a much more Amaya outfit that she had put on underneath, consisting of orange leggings, brown boots, and a long yellow tunic split to her hips on both sides. Her hair was pinned up with Roku's ornament. "I couldn't get away from those crazy seamstresses and their traditional ideas, so I'm breaking the rules secretly."

"Much better," Zuko approved, leaning down and kissing her. When they pulled back, Amaya looked up to see him staring at her tenderly. "If someone had told me when I first started out looking for you that I'd-"

"Be making out with the Avatar before your coronation?"

"Yeah. I'd have had them sent to an asylum."

"The world's so different now."

"And it's going to be even more different," Zuko said encouragingly. "We'll rebuild it together." She stepped closer and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.

"I definitely do," she smiled.

"I definitely do too."

They parted and Zuko turned, taking a deep breath before stepping through the doorway and out into the courtyard where rows of their friends and allies waited. Amaya followed at a respectful distance. She could see ranks of people outside, divided neatly between Foggy Swamp, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Water Tribe. In front was a row of those closest, those who had done the most.

"Please!" Zuko said as the applause began. "The real hero is the Avatar." He stepped aside, gesturing grandly to her, and Amaya stepped forwards confidently. She watched all the happy faces and felt tears fill her eyes.

"Today," Zuko began. "This war is finally over!" Cheers reverberated through the courtyard. "I promised my uncle that I would restore the honor of the Fire Nation and I will. The road ahead will be challenging. A hundred years of fighting has left the world scarred and divided. But with the Avatar's help we can get it back on the right track and begin an era of love and peace."

Zuko knelt and a Fire Sage came forwards, crown cupped tenderly in his old hands. "All hail Fire Lord Zuko!" he proclaimed, settling the ornament in place in Zuko's topknot. The courtyard fairly exploded as people screamed and applauded and stamped their feet. Zuko stood and stepped forwards, gesturing to her. Amaya moved to his side and waited for the cheers to die down. That was when she would have to speak. Her stomach knotted at the very thought.

All fell silent. Amaya cleared her dry throat and licked her lips. She thought furiously, trying to think of a good start, but couldn't think of anything that would compare to Zuko's speech. Finally she just opened her mouth and started talking.

"I don't know why I'm so obsessed with family. It may be because I never met my biological one. But through this journey, I've come to realize that family is not who you are related to by blood. Well, that's not all of it, at least. Family is who you chose to let into your heart. Through this I've developed probably the biggest family in history. I have sisters and a brother." She looked to Toph, Katara, and Sokka. "I have a scary overabundance of father-like figures." She turned to Jeong Jeong, Iroh, whose company she had found amusing in the short time she'd known him, and a flickering spirit version of Roku. "I have old friends." She smiled at Bumi. "And new." She paused and grinned at Mai and Ty Lee. "I have more cousins than I can count." Her eyes went to the Freedom Fighters and the Kyoshi Warriors.

"I've met so many amazing people and been a part of their lives, and they've been a part of mine. I may never see some of them again, but I will always remember them fondly. There's a point to this, I swear," she added, and the crowd laughed a bit. "I once met a guru who told me that separation is life's greatest illusion. While I may not agree with everything he told me, that is one thing I believe wholeheartedly. I hope that as we move into this new era of peace and prosperity, we don't do so as the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, and the Water Tribes. We do so as a unit, as a family, caring for each other even if we aren't related by blood or nation. I hope that one day you will know people not by nation but by how you feel about them. I hope that one day, we will be one people working together for a brighter future."

The crowd roared with approval and Amaya bit her lip, fighting back tears. She felt a hand take hers and looked up to see Zuko standing next to her, resplendent in royal robes.

"That was amazing," he whispered into her ear. "You are amazing."

"Thanks," Amaya grinned back. "You're pretty great yourself, _Fire Lord Zuko_."

"Will you marry me?"

Amaya froze. Did he really just ask that? He did, but… her brain short circuited and she did the only thing that made sense.

She thwacked him in the head.

The crowd froze, staring as the Avatar attacked the Fire Lord. Zuko rubbed his head sheepishly as Amaya stared at him in shock.

"What kind of a question is that?" she demanded, her voice echoing in the silent courtyard. "Of course I'll marry you, you idiot!"

The crowd roared again, much louder, and Zuko reached into the sleeve of his robes, pulling out a ring. A small chip of a familiar crystal rested in the setting. It wasn't grand or overdone, which Amaya was thankful for. Zuko knew her well. He slid it on her finger and Amaya stared at it, awed.

She was getting _married._

"Huh," she said vaguely, wiggling her beringed finger. "Well that's a new feeling."

Zuko chuckled softly and shook his head as he pulled her close. "Only you," he muttered, before kissing her. Amaya wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed back as the crowd cheered. For the peace, for their heroes, and for love.

* * *

**Okay, within the next two weeks I will be posting my new story. A lot of people seemed to like the idea, so... Here it comes! The updates on this one will be farther apart than with Amaya's series, but the chapter's will be longer, so I'm not just completely gypping you guys.**


	14. In Which Dresses are Critiqued

So far, dress shopping wasn't going well. As Avatar and future Fire Lady, Amaya could afford and grand dress, one with all the bells and whistles and beading she wanted. But so far, she just felt stiff and uncomfortable.

Amaya buried her face in her hands in the dressing room, Katara, Toph, and Suki sitting around her.

"Am I crazy for doing this?" Amaya wondered, biting at her nails. Suki slapped her hand away. "I mean, I'm only sixteen. We don't have to get married now."

"Amaya, stop it," Toph said firmly. "You and Zuko are disgustingly in love with each other, okay? So quit second-guessing yourself and get it together!"

"Toph's right," Katara said, stroking Amaya's braid. "Now come on, don't get discouraged. You haven't tried on very many dresses yet. Maybe something in a different style. What if we picked some things we think you might like? How about that?"

"Okay," Amaya sighed, straightening up and rubbing her face. "Okay, I'm better. I don't know why but I'm just so stressed out. I've got the food to handle, and the flowers, and Zuko hasn't been able to approve the seating arrangements yet, he's been too busy with the meetings with the Water Tribes, and… Oh, the room's spinning."

"Okay, you're clearly panicking," Suki said. "Stop thinking of it all at once," she advised. "Just think of it as a few little jobs to do. And none of them are horrible. Dressing up, tasting delicious food, smelling flowers. Doesn't sound too bad to me."

"Easy for you to say," Amaya mumbled as she stood. She took a deep breath and collected herself. "Alright, off with you. Each of you pick a dress and come back."

The three girls scattered, picking dresses from random spots on the racks, looking at them, and then putting them back. Nearly a half hour later they returned to the dressing room, arms laden with white fabric.

"Okay, what first?" Amaya asked. Toph thrust out a dress.

"This one felt nice," she said bluntly. Zuko had questioned her sanity for inviting a blind girl to help her go dress shopping, but Amaya had insisted.

Amaya tried it on and stepped out of the dressing room, staggering under the weight of the monstrosity of white fabric.

"What's she look like?" Toph asked.

"A giant cupcake," Suki supplied.

"But a very pretty cupcake," Katara threw it.

"I think we'll move on to the next one," Amaya said, wrinkling her nose. Suki wasn't lying. The skirt balooned out a good four feet on either side of her. She wondered vaguely if she'd fit down the aisle. She knew for a fact she'd take someone out with the skirt at the reception.

"Oh, try mine!" Suki suggested, pointing to hers. Amaya quickly changed dresses and stepped back out, staring at her reflection.

"Closer, but I look…"

"Kind of like that play we saw on Ember Island?" Katara suggested.

"A bit," Amaya said, eying the high slit in the skirt and blushing. _Think monk_ thoughts... The dress clung tightly to every curve and flared indecently around her legs.

"Try mine," Katara said. Amaya obediently picked up the dress, but was immediately put off by the lace. She turned and looked at her reflection and… stared.

The girl in the mirror had curves. She had an amazing figure, tall and slim, and aside from her startled expression, looked gorgeous. Amaya stepped out, blinking dumbly.

"Ooh," Katara and Suki chorused, while Toph just demanded, "What? What?"

"Amaya, you look…"

Amaya nodded dimly, still surprised. The dress was slim and clingy, but not overly so. A long train trailed elegantly behind her. Lace sleeves tapered to points on the backs of her hands, ending precisely with her arrows, and made her limbs look graceful, even at rest. Her décolletage was exposed, giving a peek of skin, but still remaining classy. She looked… elegant. That was a term that had never been applied to her before.

"I like it," she said softly, smoothing her hands down the gown. The material flowed like water under her fingers.

"Hello ladies, how are we doing?" asked a woman in a crisp black dress, a sales assistant. "Anything standing out?"

"This one, definitely," Toph snorted. "She hasn't said anything since she came out so either it's horrible or amazing."

"Amazing," Amaya said dimly. She wasn't really there mentally anymore. Her mind was a thousand miles away, processing the fact that _she was getting married_. To _Zuko._ For a moment, the meaning of that threatened to overwhelm her, but then scenes flashed across her eyes. Zuko, sitting across from her in her bed at the Air Temple. Zuko, dancing with her at the Fire Days festival. Zuko, fighting her tooth and nail. Zuko, smiling at her. Zuko, with that tender expression he got right before he kissed her.

_Zuko._

"This is my dress," Amaya said, beaming at her reflection.

"Oh, you do look lovely," the assistant said truthfully. "If I may make a suggestion…." She held up a hand and disappeared out of the room, only to return with a bundle of fabric over her arm. She shook it out, revealing a veil of white mesh edged in lace that was a perfect match for that on the dress. Carefully, the assistant set the veil down on Amaya's head and positioned the sides around her.

Amaya stared at her reflection. She was going to be a bride. A _bride…_ There was a time when that would have been insane, when she expected to grow up and be a monk in the Air Temple, to never associate romantically in any way. She had been fine with that for a while, but after everything that had happened, she really couldn't imagine life without Zuko. Whether friend or foe, he had been there since she woke up.

"I'm ready to get married," Amaya smiled.

* * *

**So, short sweet, and to the point. I was craving some fluff, and this was born. Probably as a result of an overabundance of Say Yes to the Dress, but still. It's an important thing for a girl! Next will be the wedding, when I get around to writing it, and after that some random scenes to be posted as I get inspired. **

**The bulk of my attention is now on my new story, the first chapter of which is now posted! You all seemed to like the idea, so here it comes! It's listed under Somewhere I Belong based on that Linkin Park song, mostly because it fits the story very well. I will warn you now, it's not going to be as much of a comedy as this one, though it will still be ZukoXOC (because who doesn't love Zuko?). Amaya's a happy person, and Kyuri, the OC SIB is... well, read it and see! **


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